Johnny Cueto allowed five hits over a season-high eight innings and Gavin Sheets clubbed a first-inning, three-run homer as the Chicago White Sox cooled off the visiting Detroit Tigers with an 8-0 victory Saturday.
Cueto (3-4) continued his strong 2022, lowering his ERA to 2.91 while completing at least six innings for the ninth time in 11 starts.
The 36-year-old right-hander cruised Saturday, yielding just one extra-base hit without a walk and striking out five on 101 pitches to help the White Sox finally post a victory during this four-game set and end Detroit’s season-high six-game winning streak.
Meanwhile, Sheets’ first of two hits highlighted Chicago’s back-to-back three-run innings to open the game. Jose Abreu and Tim Anderson also had two hits apiece, while combining for three RBIs, as the White Sox won for just the second time in six games.
Detroit averaged 6.7 runs over its previous six games but managed just six total hits Saturday. Spencer Torkelson’s eighth-inning double was the offensive highlight for the Tigers, who were shut out for the 11th time in 2022.
The White Sox made Detroit’s Garrett Hill (1-1) work early in his second major league outing. Hill allowed a double to Andrew Vaughn and walked Luis Robert in the first. Then with two outs, Sheets drilled a 3-0 pitch over the left-center-field fence.
Chicago added three more runs in the second off Hill, who threw 56 pitches in the first two innings. Again with two outs, Robert delivered an RBI single and Abreu lined the ball over Detroit right fielder Willi Castro for a two-run double.
Hill, who won his debut Monday against Cleveland, settled down to toss three hitless innings. All six runs allowed by Hill were earned, plus six hits with two walks and a strikeout over five innings.
The White Sox revived their offense in the sixth against Will Vest, who surrendered a run-scoring single to Anderson. Leury Garcia came home with Chicago’s eighth run on Vest’s wild pitch later in the frame.
–Field Level Media