The Detroit Tigers offense showed up to the park early again.
The Tigers’ batters jumped on Chicago White Sox starter Davis Martin in the first three innings for seven runs in a 7-2 win, their fourth in five games
The early run support was more than enough for starting pitcher Reese Olson, who scattered seven hits across six innings while giving up two runs to pick up his first win of the season.
The White Sox scored in the top of the first inning on an RBI double from Andrew Vaughn, but the Tigers (4-4) answered immediately. Justyn Henry-Malloy sent Martin’s first pitch to the wall for a double, and scored on a Riley Greene single through the gap to right field.
Spencer Torkelson put two runners in scoring position with a double, and Andy Ibáñez drove in Greene with an infield single to make it 2-1, Tigers.
Kerry Carpenter extended the lead with his third home run in the first two games of the home opening series. He took advantage of a hanging Martin curveball and laced a drive down the right-field line for a 373-foot two-run home run.
Spencer Torkelson joined the home run party in the third. Torkelson turned on a low, inside changeup in a 2-2 count and put it into the home bullpen in left field. Torkelson’s second home run of the season traveled 368 feet.
The Tigers loaded the bases with the next three batters. Colt Keith drew a walk, followed by Ibáñez reaching from a hit-by-pitch and a soft Jake Rogers single to left field. Trey Sweeney hit a dribbler toward first base for an RBI fielder’s choice, aided by catcher Korey Lee’s failure to cover home on the throw. Malloy then put the Tigers ahead 7-1 with a sacrifice fly.
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The Tigers held the six-run edge until the fifth inning. The White Sox loaded the bases with no outs with two singles and a walk, but Olson mitigated the damage. Luis Robert Jr. rolled over a grounder to Ibáñez for a 5-3 double play, which plated a run, and then got out of it with a flyout.
The Tigers didn’t add any runs after the first three innings and had just two hits from the fifth inning on, but the early pop was more than enough for Olson and the Tigers’ bullpen.
Olson grinds to quality start
Olson got through six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, three walks and five strikeouts. He threw 94 pitches with 52 strikes.
Both of Olson’s runs allowed came after he put a runner on base with a free pass. In the first inning, he walked Robert on four straight balls, then fell behind Benintendi the next at-bat to put two on before Vaughn’s double. After walking Miguel Vargas to load the bases in the fifth, he moved the second run to third base.
Olson threw 52 of his 94 pitches for strikes (55%). He worked around most of the traffic on the base paths, stranding five White Sox runners on base.
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Of his 94 pitches, Olson threw 31 sliders, 27 sinkers, 16 four-seam fastballs, 16 changeups and four curveballs. He drew 10 whiffs on 38 swings from the White Sox, with the changeup proving the most deceptive with five.
Beau Brieske replaced him in the seventh and produced a scoreless inning after giving up a leadoff double. John Brebbia pitched a clean eighth and ninth to close the game. Brebbia struck out two and is now up to four scoreless innings of relief in 2025.
The Tigers won the first game of the series in the home opener on Friday, 7-4. The Tigers are at .500 for the first time this season after taking the first two games against Chicago.
Jared Ramsey covers sports for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jramsey@freepress.com; Follow Jared on X or Bluesky.
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