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Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers

Final
Comerica Park74°, Partly Cloudy34,692

Recap

Player of the gameTroy MeltonDET6.0ip 1h 1er 5k

Dillon Dingler’s ridiculous June continued Saturday with his sixth home run of the month and 17th of the season. But if you want a snapshot of why he has become so valuable to the Tigers, and why he deserves more All-Star votes at catcher, the fifth-inning single that preceded his homer is better. Dingler has been crushing the ball all month, but he has been producing clutch hits all season. His 32 two-out RBIs lead the Majors, and are tied for the most by a Tiger in his first 70 games of a season in the last 50 years with Richie Hebner in 1980. The latest two-out RBI from Dingler not only tied the game, setting up James Outman’s go-ahead RBI single an inning later in Saturday’s 4-1 win over the White Sox, it changed the momentum of a game that seemed to be getting away from them. The boos were echoing around Comerica Park after the Tigers left the bases loaded in the fourth inning, capped by Jahmai Jones’ pinch-hit strikeout against lefty reliever Joe Rock. Fans were frustrated. Zach McKinstry’s two-out walk and Kevin McGonigle’s single put runners on the corners to give them another chance. Dingler, as he has done so many times this season, converted. It wasn’t a tape-measure home run, but a simple piece of hitting, attacking a fastball on the inner half of the plate and lining it to the opposite field. It was the latest example why, even on days when he’s not catching, he’s in the lineup, hitting. “Ding’s doing so good,” said catcher Jake Rogers, who added an RBI single while Dingler started at DH. “He’s an All-Star player. My job is to give him a break every once in a while.” Dingler is batting .292 (21-for-72) with a .958 OPS and 35 RBIs with runners in scoring position. When those RISP opportunities come with two outs, he’s even tougher, batting .375 (15-for-40) with five homers, 25 RBIs and a 1.318 OPS. He has nearly twice as many hits in such situations as strikeouts (eight). “We rely on him to just be a threat,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “And no matter where I’ve put him, he has continued his discipline. He has also continued his intent. I think he knows what he wants to do when he goes up there, and he knows the difficulties of the job. “I mean, these are DH days. He knows he’s going to be right back in there tomorrow behind the plate, and he prepares for his at-bats just like he prepares for the opponent on defense. And so, when he’s able to execute a plan, he doesn’t try to do too much. I know we say that all the time when guys get the base hit

Team stats

4Hits7
1Home runs1
4Walks5
7Strikeouts7
0Stolen bases1
149Pitches thrown115
7Pitching strikeouts7

Box score

BattersABRHRBIHRBBSO
Junior PerezPH-CF1000011
Sam Antonacci2B2121110
Miguel Vargas3B-1B4000001
Edgar QueroPH-DH1000000
Tristan PetersCF1000011
Chase MeidrothPH-SS2010000
Randal GrichukLF4000001
Jacob Gonzalez1B2000000
Andrew BenintendiDH3000000
Braden MontgomeryRF3010010
Colson MontgomerySS-3B4000002
Drew RomoC4000001
Totals31141147
PitchersIPHRERBBSOHR
Trevor RichardsP1.0111011
Joe RockP2.1532210
Chris MurphyP1.0100010
Sean NewcombP3.0000040
Tyler DavisP0.2000300