DETROIT — For a minute there, it was like watching a repeat of the home opener.
This time the ending was much more dour for the home team, though.
The Chicago White Sox evened this chilly, season-opening series with a 5-2 win against the Tigers on Saturday at Comerica Park, where the temperature at game time was 39 degrees.
A two-run home run by Yasmani Grandal in the top of the sixth inning broke open a close game and ended all resemblances to the Tigers’ thrilling Opening Day win Friday.
Up to then, though, it was eerily similar.
The White Sox jumped ahead early, just like they did in the opener. The Tigers were flummoxed by the White Sox starter again, this time it was Tiger-killer Dylan Cease (8-0 with a 2.10 ERA against Detroit) allowing just one hit through five innings.
And like Friday, the Tigers kept the game close. This time it was starting pitcher Casey Mize scratching and clawing without his Grade-A stuff putting up zeros after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning. Mize, until the sixth, allowed only two hits after the first.
Also like Friday, the Tigers snuffed out a major scoring threat in the fifth inning. Former Tiger Josh Harrison led off with a triple and Mize stranded him. He struck out Jake Burger and then got Andrew Vaughn to hit a popup behind first.
Second baseman Jonathan Schoop ran the ball down, caught it with his back to the infield, spun and threw a seed to the plate holding Harrison. It was a carbon copy of the play he made Friday to hold a runner at third.
Mize then ended the threat by getting Luis Robert to ground out to short, Javy Baez making a harder-than-it-looked play charging the ball.
Manager AJ Hinch, after needing five innings out of his bullpen Friday, tried to squeeze one more inning out of Mize. Didn’t work. After a single by Jose Abreu leading off the sixth, Mize left a 93-mph four-seam fastball up and in the middle of the plate to Grandal.
The ball traveled 408 feet into the seats in left.
The White Sox made Mize work hard for his outs and they hit the ball hard. The average exit velocity on 20 balls put in play was 96.7 mph. He only got five swings and misses and two strikeouts. But he kept grinding and mixing his pitches, leaning more on his knuckle-curve and slider and got through five innings.
The Tigers were able to get Cease out of the game in the sixth when Austin Meadows led off with a ringing base hit to right. Meadows at that point had reached base six times in eight plate appearances.
They ambushed right-handed reliever Reynaldo Lopez and were able to cut the White Sox lead in half. But they left some meat on the bone.
Jeimer Candelario doubled home Meadows, moving Baez, who singled, to third. With nobody out and Miguel Cabrera at the plate, Baez tried to score on a ball in the dirt that bounced just a few feet away from catcher Grandal.
Grandal pounced on the ball and made a quick throw to Lopez covering.
The Tigers managed a second run in the inning when shortstop Leury Garcia booted a ground ball by Schoop.
The White Sox padded their lead against rookie reliever Jason Foley. Harrison doubled and scored on a single by Vaughn.
The Tigers threatened in the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back singles from Cabrera and Schoop to lead off the inning before reliever Aaron Bummer retired the next three to close the game.
