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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
DETROIT (AP) -- Injuries to James Baldwin and Cal Eldred might
leave the Chicago White Sox scrambling for a postseason rotation.
Sean Lowe had a pretty good audition Tuesday night.
|  | | Sean Lowe took another step toward winning a spot in the White Sox postseason rotation with five shutout innings. |
Lowe pitched five shutout innings and Chris Singleton hit a
two-run homer, leading the White Sox to a 6-2 victory over the Detroit
Tigers.
"He keeps giving us a solid outing," Chicago manager Jerry
Manuel said. "He has a good feel for pitching. He can pretty much
execute all his pitches when need be. He can get the breaking pitch
over at times."
The win, combined with Cleveland's 7-4 loss at Boston, cut
Chicago's magic number for clinching the AL Central title to seven.
Lowe (4-1), who didn't get a decision in three previous starts
this year, allowed three hits, struck out four and walked two,
leaving with a 6-0 lead.
Manuel will let Lowe's next few starts determine whether he will
be in the postseason rotation.
"At this time I would have to say yes because of the recent
outings," Manuel said. "You're only as good as your last
outing."
Lowe just wants to finish the regular season on a high note
before worrying about the playoffs.
"It's in the back of my mind, but we've got to get there
first," Lowe said. "We still have I don't know how many games.
It's always important to go out there and do good for the team,
especially now when we've lost a few games in a row."
The White Sox snapped a two-game losing streak in which they
batted .125 (9-for-72). They hit only .125 while winning just three
of their previous eight.
But Frank Thomas was 3-for-4 as Chicago broke out with a 13-hit
attack, including 10 hits off knuckleballer Steve Sparks (6-6).
"Fortunately for us, we have a few guys who have a history of
being pretty good against knuckleball pitchers," Manuel said.
"Frank has always been pretty good hitting against them and
Singleton seems to do a pretty good job against them."
Thomas was 3-for-3 and Singleton 2-for-2 against Sparks.
"We kind of expected tonight to come out and do something
offensively, and we were able to do it," Singleton said.
Sparks (6-6) needed 70 pitches to get through 3 1/3 innings and
gave up six runs -- four earned -- with no strikeouts or walks.
"I knew (the knuckleball wasn't moving a whole lot and they
took advantage of it," Sparks said. "It probably just didn't have
as much late movement as it did the last five or six weeks and I
left a few up."
The Tigers couldn't get anything going against Lowe, whom they
hammered in a relief appearance last week at Comiskey Park.
"It looks like we take pitches we should take advantage of,"
Tigers manager Phil Garner said. "Our offense comes and it goes,
and when it goes, it goes and goes."
Detroit finally scored on Billy McMillon's two-out RBI single
off Mark Buehrle in the seventh. Another run scored when Buehrle
knocked down Juan Encarnacion's hard smash but threw wildly to
first for an error.
Game notes
Tigers LF Bobby Higginson got his major league-leading 18th
outfield assist when he threw out Konerko trying to stretch a
single into a double in the eighth. ... Sparks has a 4.98 ERA in
September after a 1.68 ERA August. ... Valentin's first-inning run
was his 100th of the season. He joined Durham, Thomas and Lee in
triple digits. Ordonez has scored 97.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Chi. White Sox Clubhouse
Detroit Clubhouse
RECAPS
Oakland 7
Baltimore 4
Oakland 0
Baltimore 0
(2nd game)
Boston 7
Cleveland 4
Chi. White Sox 6
Detroit 2
Toronto 16
NY Yankees 3
Seattle 5
Tampa Bay 2
Kansas City 5
Anaheim 1
Minnesota 15
Texas 7
Florida 3
Montreal 1
Pittsburgh 12
Philadelphia 8
Atlanta 12
NY Mets 4
Milwaukee 9
Chicago Cubs 8
Houston 8
St. Louis 6
San Diego 7
Colorado 2
Los Angeles 1
Arizona 0
San Francisco 7
Cincinnati 3
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