DETROIT — The rain storm that soaked downtown Detroit in the late innings Friday night did little to dampen the Tigers’ spirits, nor did the 49-minute rain delay as they waited to face White Sox closer Liam Hendriks. If anything, it might have emboldened them.
The Tigers’ 5-4 loss was their sixth defeat in eight meetings with the division-leading White Sox, but it was a sign of the fight an increasingly young Detroit club is showing. Daz Cameron’s first Major League home run was a two-run shot off Hendriks to send the game into extra innings before Yoán Moncada’s 10th-inning sacrifice fly put Chicago back in front for good.
Solo homers from Nomar Mazara in the second inning and Isaac Paredes in the fifth were all the Tigers mustered off Lucas Giolito before Garrett Crochet shut them down in the seventh and eighth. What had been a light rain became steadier until it poured on Hendriks as he prepared for the ninth, eventually leading umpires to call for the tarp.
Once play resumed, Miguel Cabrera’s leadoff single brought the tying run to the plate. Hendriks jammed Eric Haase in a popout to first, but Cameron jumped his first-pitch 97 mph fastball in the middle of the zone, sending a line drive into the right-field seats as a soaked but enthusiastic crowd went wild.
It was just as exciting for Cameron, who went 11-for-57 in a late-season stint with Detroit last summer and saw his start to this season delayed by a fractured right wrist. The Tigers’ No. 8 prospect per MLB Pipeline was called up on Thursday after fellow prospect Derek Hill sprained his right shoulder crashing into the center-field wall Wednesday night.