Bad luck is biting Tigers again at the worst possible time after frustrating effort vs White Sox

The Tigers' miserable May was a result of more than just bad baseball (though there was a lot of that). They were also inflicted with some miserable luck, both on the field and off.

May was the month the Tigers not only lost Tarik Skubal to loose bodies, but also Gleyber Torres, Kerry Carpenter, Casey Mize, Brant Hurter, and Kenley Jansen with their own issues. On top of them, it felt like the BABIP gods were just frowning unfavorably on the Tigers.

Thursday's game against the White Sox offered uncomfortable flashbacks to that reality. Balls were well-struck, but they always seemed to land in the glove of a waiting White Sox infielder.

Of the Tigers' four lineouts, two were hit at over 100 MPH. Dillon Dingler's 100.4 MPH shot directly to Luisangel Acuña in the third was perhaps the biggest tide-shifter of the game, as Detroit had two men on base. If Dingler's ball had just been able to clear Acuña's head, Kevin McGonigle would've had a chance to score from second.

John Peck and McGonigle both had a couple of hard-hit fly balls as well, but they ended up caught.

Tigers' bad luck comes back to haunt them in one of their most important games of the season

Of course, it wasn't all bad luck. A misplay from McGonigle (not ruled an error) on the very first batter of Framber Valdez's day eventually led to the three-run Munetaka Murakami home run, which eventually won Chicago the game. We saw more shaky defense from McGonigle in the fourth, when Acuña got to first on a bobble.

Two Tigers runners were also called out on the base paths; Spencer Torkelson trying to stretch a single into a double, and Brett Callahan trying to advance to third on a Max Clark single. Though Torkelson probably just misjudged Randal Grichuk's arm in left, you might call these moments similarly unlucky. Miguel Vargas made a huge effort to try to tag out Callahan at third.

What we'll settle on is a mix of bad luck and yet more bad play for the Tigers, coming back to bite them in possibly the biggest spot of the season. Detroit couldn't capitalize on Chicago's myriad weaknesses. The White Sox and Guardians now share custody of first place in the AL Central, and the Tigers are six games back with an elimination number of three.

If there was any game to win, it was that one. Things just didn't fall the right way for the Tigers — but they also didn't do themselves any favors.

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