Detroit Tigers right-hander Casey Mize battled.
The 24-year-old, making his first start of the season, managed a surplus of hard contact, stranded runners in scoring position and stuck around into the sixth, but he was ambushed in his final inning by a two-run home run from Yasmani Grandal.
Unlike Friday’s Opening Day, the Tigers couldn’t make a comeback against the Chicago White Sox in Saturday’s 5-2 loss in front of 17,469 fans at Comerica Park.
It was 39 degrees at first pitch.
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Mize and the Tigers were outdueled by White Sox starter Dylan Cease, who has given Detroit trouble throughout his career. Cease allowed one run on two hits and three walks with eight strikeouts across five innings.
Austin Meadows singled off Cease in the first inning; the Tigers didn’t get another hit until Meadows’ single in the sixth.
That’s when White Sox manager Tony La Russa pulled Cease after 79 pitches, which included 13 swings and misses — nine with his slider — and 12 called strikes.
Cease and desist
The presence of reliever Reynaldo Lopez, rather than Cease, sparked the Tigers’ offense, as Javier Baez singled and Jeimer Candelario doubled to score Meadows for their first run.
Moments later, Baez rolled the dice with two runners in scoring position and no outs. He was thrown out at home trying to score on a pitch that bounced out of the catcher’s glove.
The Tigers, after Miguel Cabrera’s walk, took advantage of a fielding error by shortstop Leury Garcia for their second run on a grounder by Jonathan Schoop, but Eric Haase hit into a double play to end the inning.
Meadows and Baez recorded the Tigers’ two two-hit performances, with Candelario, Miguel Cabrera and Jonathan Schoop each tossing in one hit. Cabrera’s hit in the ninth inning was No. 2,989, bringing him within 11 hits of 3,000. Rookie Spencer Torkelson, in his second MLB game, finished 0-for-2 with two walks and two strikeouts.
Haase drew two walks against Cease.
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Trouble with two strikes
Mize gave up four runs on seven hits.
He didn’t walk anyone, but his 10 two-strike counts resulted in two strikeouts. He also had five swings and misses: three four-seam fastballs, one splitter and one curveball.
In the first inning, the White Sox tallied two runs behind one-out hits from Luis Robert (single) and Jose Abreu (double). Mize threw three of his nine splitters to the next batter, Grandal, and stuck him out swinging with his planned marquee pitch.
Then, Eloy Jimenez plated two runs with a single on Mize’s 2-0 slider. In the sixth, Grandal made it 4-0 with a two-run homer to right-center on Mize’s 1-1 four-seamer.
The White Sox averaged a 96.7 mph exit velocity against Mize.
He threw 51 of 81 pitches for strikes.
The highlight of Mize’s outing occurred in the fifth inning. Josh Harrison ripped a leadoff triple, but the 2018 No. 1 overall pick retired three consecutive batters to escape the jam. For the first out in the fifth, he struck out Jake Burger on three pitches.
See their Vest
The White Sox scored their fifth run in the seventh inning.
Right-handed reliever Joe Jimenez tossed a scoreless sixth, but righty Jason Foley stumbled in the seventh. He allowed one run on three hits, recording two outs. Righty Will Vest got the final out.
Vest returned for a perfect eighth inning.
Righty Michael Fulmer pitched a scoreless ninth.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.