LDN - Sports

Verlander, three homers help Tigers beat White Sox

[April 05, 2017] CHICAGO -- Even heading into his ninth career Opening Day start, Justin Verlander admits he still battles a case of the jitters every time out.

A heavy dose of offensive support from his teammates, however, calmed the Detroit Tigers ace down in a hurry.

Verlander struck out 10 over 6 1/3 innings and JaCoby Jones, Nick Castellanos and Ian Kinsler all homered as the Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3 on Tuesday.

Verlander struck out at least one hitter in every inning he pitched and was anchored by Detroit's home-run power a day after the scheduled season opener for both teams was washed out by rain.

Even with the delay, Verlander mowed through the White Sox offense.

"He was just in control today," Kinsler said of Verlander's effort. "He looked really sharp."

Verlander had plenty of support.

The Tigers jumped on White Sox starter Jose Quintana for five runs in the second inning. Jones hit his first career home run -- a three-run shot into the White Sox bullpen -- after Quintana surrendered a single to Justin Upton and hit Mikie Mahtook with a pitch.

With two outs in the inning, Castellanos drilled a 387-foot, two-run homer to extend the lead to 5-1.

Although the inning was the only one in which Quintana struggled, it proved to be all the Tigers needed.

"I tried to keep the game close," Quintana said. "But the five runs, that's too much against Verlander. He threw the ball well."

Kinsler, who reached base four times, made it 6-1 with a solo shot off of Quintana in the fourth inning. Quintana, who pitched 5 1/3 innings and walked three and struck out two, surrendered only five hits in his first career Opening Day start, but three were home runs.

"To put up six runs against that type of pitcher is a great effort by the offense," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "We didn't get a bunch of hits -- Quintana actually pitched pretty well despite the number of runs that were given up."

The White Sox, playing their first game under manager Rick Renteria, got to within 6-2 in the fourth inning on a Jose Abreu RBI groundout, but struggled against Verlander, who yielded six hits and walked two.

Verlander registered his final strikeout in the seventh inning when he struck out Avisail Garcia to become the first Tigers pitcher since Mickey Lolich in 1970 to strike out 10 hitters on Opening Day.

"(Reaching 10 strikeouts) isn't something you're cognizant of when you're out there," Verlander said.

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Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander (35) delivers a pitch during the first inning of the game against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports

Verlander relied on a steady diet of fastballs throughout his start and effectively used the pitch to keep White Sox hitters off-balance.

"We had a lot of guys that had a tough time laying off that pitch," Renteria said. "Even though you talk about it, you go over it, it's still one of those things where you're facing an ace. He is an ace and he did what he normally does, he attacks the zone and then he ends up making you chase up out of the zone."

Jacob May capped the scoring in the ninth inning with an RBI groundout.

Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Melky Cabrera drove in Tyler Saladino with a double. Saladino was one of the lone bright spots for the White Sox as the leadoff hitter went 2-for-4 with a walk. Cabrera also had two doubles, and Abreu had two hits for the White Sox.

But it was far from being enough to keep up with the Tigers' offense on a day when Verlander -- nerves and all -- was in command from the start.

"It felt good," he said. "It's good to get the first one out of the way and it's good to get the win."

NOTES: Tigers OF J.D. Martinez had a cast removed and underwent therapy on Monday after spraining the Linsfranc ligament in his right foot last month while making a catch. Manager Brad Ausmus told reporters recently that Martinez would miss 3-4 weeks. ...Tigers LHP Kyle Ryan will leave the team on paternity leave Tuesday night until Friday to be with his wife, who is scheduled to undergo a C-section on Wednesday in Lakeland, Fla. Blaine Hardy will replace Ryan until he returns. ...White Sox LHP Jose Quintana matched a career high when he allowed three home runs in a game. According to Baseball Reference, Tuesday's outing marked the fifth time in Quintana's career he has surrendered a trio of homers. ...LF Melky Cabrera became the first White Sox player to collect multiple doubles on Opening Day since former 1B Frank Thomas accomplished the feat in 1999.

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