Javier Báez and the Detroit Tigers were feeling good.
The shortstop, who was playing in his first series back in Chicago since being traded away by the Cubs last year, blasted a two-run homer in the first inning to give Detroit an early two-run lead against the White Sox on Sunday.
It just wasn’t enough.
The White Sox broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the eighth, ignited by a rare error from outfielder Robbie Grossman, to win 4-2 and salvage a split in the series.
BOX SCORE: White Sox 4, Tigers 2
Chicago fans showered Báez with boos and jeers all series long, but he looked unfazed, perhaps even motivated by the negative energy the crowd was sending his way. His home run Sunday, which left his bat at 107.4 mph, was his second of the series.
Báez took a moment to admire his work, standing at the plate and watching the ball soar through the air before it eventually cleared the left-field wall. And after he finished jogging around the bases, Báez turned around and pointed to the back of his jersey as he walked into the dugout.
But that was all the offense the Tigers were able to muster in their loss, as they wasted a solid outing from Drew Hutchison, who allowed two runs over six innings of work.
Hutchison was through 5⅔ innings when he allowed a two-out, two-strike home run to Gavin Sheets. If he was able to get through that inning and hand the game to the bullpen with the lead, the game could’ve finished much differently.
“He did a nice job with a very little margin for error,” AJ Hinch said to a pool of reporters after the game. “I mean, we got the lead early, so that let him set in a little bit, (but) he just couldn’t finish off hitters in a couple critical times. … Sheets’ homer after you get ahead 0-2.
“He’ll be disappointed in the outing as how we got there, but two runs (in) six innings you take every time.”
The game was tied in the bottom of the eighth inning, and with two outs, Luis Robert popped a ball into shallow left field. Grossman, who hadn’t committed an error in 440 games, had the ball bounce off his glove.
Grossman appeared to be battling the sun on his way to the ball.
“Obviously, we’re playing deep, no doubles, to try to keep Robert off of second base,” Hinch said. “So (Grossman) had to come a little bit of a long way and I think the wind knocked it down a little bit, and then he just missed it.”
Gregory Soto came in to try and clean up the mess, but he allowed AJ Pollock, who entered the game as a pinch hitter, to knock in the eventual game-winning run. Eloy Jiménez also singled, giving Chicago some more cushion heading into the last inning.
“I mean, obviously we missed some opportunities offensively, and then gave them an extra out at a really bad time in the game,” Hinch said. “Where they’re in the middle of the order. … And then Pollock comes off the bench and faces Soto. … Credit to them of course, but we opened the door for them and made some mistakes.”
The Tigers have now lost two straight after winning their previous six.
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Hill sent down
With a doubleheader set in Kansas City on Monday, which will be the 12th and 13th games played in 11 days, the Tigers added a fresh arm to the bullpen Sunday.
Right-hander Drew Carlton was recalled from Triple-A Toledo. Carlton was up for four games at the end of May and allowed two earned runs with six strikeouts in 6.2 innings. In his last outing was May 31 and he went three innings against the Twins, allowing only one hit with four strikeouts.
The corresponding roster move was to option starting pitcher Garrett Hill back to Toledo, who made his second big-league start in Chicago on Saturday night.
The plan is for Hill to return to the rotation as the 27th man on July 21 in Oakland, when the Tigers return from the All-Star break with a doubleheader in Oakland.
Hill’s spot in the rotation will come up in the Cleveland series this weekend and the most likely candidate to get the spot start is rookie Elvin Rodriguez, though that is not official. Rodriguez made four starts earlier this season and had a rough go of it (26 earned runs and nine home runs in 20.1 innings across five appearances).
His last four starts with Toledo have been solid (3.33 ERA with 20 strikeouts and six walks in 20.1 innings). His last start was on Friday, so he would be in line to go either Friday or Saturday against the Guardians.
On deck: at Royals
► Series: Four games at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
► First pitch: Monday (2) — 2:10 p.m. and 8:10 p.m.; Tuesday — 8:10 p.m.; Wednesday — 2:10 p.m.
► TV/radio: All games on Bally Sports Detroit/97.1 FM
► Probables: Monday — Game 1: RHP Michael Pineda (2-3, 3.62) vs. RHP Brad Keller (4-9, 4.37); Game 2: RHP Alex Faedo (1-4, 5.04) vs. LHP Daniel Lynch (3-7, 4.95); Tuesday — RHP Beau Brieske (2-6, 4.16) vs. LHP Kris Bubic (1-6, 6.84); Wednesday — LHP Tarik Skubal (6-7, 3.99) vs. RHP Brady Singer (3-3, 4.25)
Scouting report
Game 1
► Pineda, Tigers: Big Mike has come back from the injured list (broken finger) and given the Tigers five solid innings in his first two starts. The one lingering issue for him is left-handed hitters who are hitting .295 (right-handers .226) with an on-base average of .349 (.238) and slugging .525 (.452).
► Keller, Royals: He blanked the Tigers over six innings and struck out five at Comerica Park on July 1. He beat them primarily with his four-seamer, which was hitting 97 mph, and his slider, getting four swings and misses and 11 called strikes with those two pitchers.
Game 2
► Faedo, Tigers: Up from Triple-A as the 27th man for the second straight start, lasting just 3.2 inning in his last start on July 4. He was pulled from that game with hip soreness but worked through it between starts.
► Lynch, Royals: His last four starts have been a mixed bag. He’s struck out 26 in 20.2 innings, but he’s also walked 10 and given up four home runs.
Staff writer Chris McCosky contributed.
rsilva@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Rich_Silva18