Despite loss, Sox making the most of opportunities

DETROIT -- Obstacles bring opportunities.

This was the answer manager Pedro Grifol offered pregame Saturday when asked about the White Sox turnaround of late. He looked like a fortune teller a few hours later, though, when Chicago went from playing on the wrong side of a perfect game to taking the lead during a big inning, only to give it back in the bottom of the same frame.

“It’s just one of those days,” Grifol said following the White Sox 7-3 loss to the Tigers at Comerica Park. “We didn't have any momentum, and then all of a sudden, we got it. I was pretty happy Joe [Kelly] was on the mound at that time. I wouldn't hesitate to give him the ball tomorrow, and the following day and whenever the time comes.”

Chicago was up, 3-2, in the bottom of the seventh even though Detroit starter Michael Lorenzen took a perfect game into the sixth and registered two outs in the frame before Romy González smashed a first-pitch slider back up the middle at 105.8 mph to break up the bid. The White Sox then pounced on the Tigers’ relief in the seventh and took the lead on Gavin Sheets' three-run double.

They then sent Kelly out for the bottom half to keep Detroit at bay. Kelly took the hill having not allowed a run since April 27, a string of 10 outings during which he allowed just two hits. But Saturday was Kelly’s turn to have an off-day, and the Tigers clipped him for three runs on four hits in one-third of an inning to retake the lead for good.

Despite the disappointment, there was something to be said for how quickly the White Sox were able to seize an opportunity late, not something they were particularly good at in April.

With that in mind, here are three emerging trends from the White Sox first three games in Detroit that show they’re a different team than the one that started the season 7-21.

They take advantage
How about Jake Burger in this series? Chicago had yet to get on the board in the seventh on Saturday when Burger tapped a two-out grounder to second and hustled up the line to force an errant throw and load the bases.

Burger then hit the gas to score from first on Sheets’ bases-clearing double that gave the White Sox the lead.

It wasn’t the only time Burger’s speed was highlighted in this series. After leading off the third inning with a single on Thursday, he swiped second for his first career stolen base.

His risk paid off that time, too, when Tim Anderson singled to right on the next play, allowing Burger to score from second to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.

“Any way I can help the team win, that’s huge for me, and I’m glad they’re giving me the green light occasionally,” Burger said. “… Maybe I can surprise them and get a couple more this year.”

They’re quick to shake it off
Friday’s game brought with it a bulldog performance from Lance Lynn, who battled control issues but was also hampered by an uncharacteristically rocky defense behind him that Grifol said the team would “have to talk about.”

Around that deviation were great examples of Chicago’s ability to flush mishaps and harness the good, though. The White Sox turned two double plays on Thursday and another pair on Friday, sprinkling in a handful of heads-up plays along the way -- such as Anderson’s spinning stop in the ninth -- to keep the Tigers off-balance.

They’re having fun
The White Sox landed in Detroit having won three consecutive series, and they still have a chance to split the current one with a win in Sunday’s finale.

Chicago’s run lately is a big weight lifted from a roster that weathered an abysmal beginning to the season, one that Grifol said was also an opportunity to “continue to work, learn about each other, educate each other and come out and perform.”

And proving to themselves they can bounce back from rough patches has only made the team hungry to continue its winning ways.

“It felt good to finally try to find some positivity and be able to do something right at all angles of the game,” said Anderson, who had four hits Friday. “Hopefully, we can continue to keep rolling with it and building off that.”