CHICAGO — Nineteen years before George Lombard became Tigers bench coach, he was a slugging outfielder who hit his first Tigers home run here on a night when Detroit and Chicago combined for 12 home runs. As he sat in the dugout at Guaranteed Rate Field Friday night, he could be excused for having flashbacks.
Crazy things happen between these teams in this ballpark. When the weather warms up like this, the craziness usually involves dingers. They didn’t disappoint on Friday, hitting half a dozen of them. Not until Yermín Mercedes’ walk-off single in the ninth was the outcome decided in a 9-8 Tigers loss.
The pitching duel Spencer Turnbull and Dallas Kuechel had going was a distant memory by the time the White Sox took advantage of three infield errors in a five-run fifth inning. Likewise, Detroit’s defensive collapse was forgotten once Jonathan Schoop and Eric Haase slugged the Tigers in front with home runs in a six-run seventh.