Detroit Tigers complete Opening Day with 1-0 win against Chicago White Sox
The Detroit Tigers are starting the 2024 season off with a victory after beating the Chicago White Sox 1-0 on Thursday.
Pitcher Tarik Skubal and three relievers combined to retire the final 17 batters. The White Sox did not advance past first base and wasted a terrific start by Garrett Crochet.
Javier Báez singled and scored on Andy Ibáñez's sacrifice fly in the third. The Tigers finished with six hits.
READ: See the full Detroit Tigers schedule for 2024 MLB season
Skubal (1-0) picked up right where he left off last year. The 27-year-old left-hander struck out six without a walk in his first opening-day start, after going 4-0 with a 0-90 ERA in his final five outings a year ago.
Shelby Miller pitched a perfect seventh. Andrew Chafin worked 1 1/3 innings before Jason Foley earned the save by striking out Yoán Moncada and Luis Robert Jr.
Crochet (0-1) tossed six sparkling innings in his first professional start, allowing one run and five hits. The 24-year-old left-hander struck out eight and walked none.
Crochet, who has 72 career relief appearances for the White Sox, got the nod for the opener after former ace Dylan Cease was traded to San Diego two weeks ago.
Deivi García worked the seventh. Michael Kopech pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth when he struck out Matt Vierling. But the White Sox opened on a familiar note coming off a 101-loss season.
The Tigers will take on the White Sox again on Saturday and Sunday. The team's home opener is scheduled for April 5 against the Oakland Athletics.