Detroit Tigers pitcher Kenta Maeda pitches against the Chicago White Sox in the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 22, 2024, in Detroit.
12:09 JST, June 23, 2024
DETROIT (AP) — Drew Thorpe pitched six scoreless innings and earned his first Major League victory in his third start, tossing the Chicago White Sox’s 5-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.
Thorpe (1-1) allowed two hits and four walks while striking out five.
“This is me. I’m quite balanced, super calm and relaxed,” said Thorpe, who was given a beer shower by his teammates. “I’ve always been like that.”
The 23-year-old right-hander received a no-decision in his debut in Seattle on June 11, then lasted 3 1/3 innings in a 12-5 loss at Arizona on June 16.
“You just flush it, right? It’s going to happen, it’s probably going to happen again,” he said. “It’s just how you move past it and get ready for the next one.”
Thorpe, a second-round pick by the Yankees in the 2022 amateur draft, was dealt to San Diego in the December trade that brought Juan Soto to New York, then traded to Chicago in March as part of a package for right-hander Dylan Cease. .
He made 11 starts at Double-A Birmingham prior to being called up.
“What I like about him is that he is a great competitor,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “Because of his nerves, because of the way he hides everything, he competes and he doesn’t shy away from contact.”
Korey Lee homered, Nicky Lopez had three hits and an RBI, and Andrew Vaughn, Paul DeJong and Lenyn Sosa drove in runs as the major league-worst White Sox (21-57) halted a three-game losing streak.
Justin Anderson, John Brebbia and Michael Kopech each pitched an inning, with Brebbia allowing Mark Canha’s RBI groundout in the eighth.
Detroit Tigers pitcher Kenta Maeda throws out Chicago White Sox’s Andrew Vaughn at first base in the fourth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 22, 2024, in Detroit.
Detroit (35-41) has lost five of six and scored six points in that span.
“We’re just not trying to string a few hits together,” said Matt Vierling, who scored the Tigers’ lone run. “I feel like we’re in a lull offensively.”
Kenta Maeda (2-4) gave up three runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings and fell to 0-3 in his last five starts.
DeJong had an RBI single in the fourth and scored on Lopez’s double, Vaughn had an RBI single in the fifth and Lee hit his seventh homer in a two-run sixth, including Sosa’s runscoring single.
