Tigers handing White Sox 100th loss marks revenge for lowly 2003 season

Whenever a team sees the Chicago White Sox on their schedule, they can basically mark a series win before the first pitch is even thrown. The 2024 White Sox are all but guaranteed to become the worst team ever assembled in the modern era. The 1962 Mets currently hold the record for losses in a single season at 120, but the Sox are on pace to lose 124.

The Tigers, who also don't have a stellar record over the last decade themselves and are very much still rebuilding, are lucky to share a division with them. They've seen the White Sox three times already this year and won all three series. They're scheduled to finish their season on a high note when the Sox come to Detroit at the end of September, bookending the year after opening 2024 in Chicago.

After the Tigers lost two out of three to the Cubs last week, a quick trip down to the south side before going back home was exactly what the doctor ordered. Detroit took the first two games easily, with a 5-2 win in Game 1 and a 13-4 rout in Game 2, improving their record to .492 and bringing the White Sox just one loss away from the big 100.

In Game 3, Chicago put up two runs early off of opener Beau Brieske but, thanks to a great afternoon for Colt Keith and the rest of the Tigers rookies, the Tigers ended up taking the game 9-4. And just like that, the Tigers got revenge for the White Sox kicking them while they were down back in 2003.

Tigers stomp White Sox to take series and force Chicago to their 100th loss of the season

Keith got the scoring started with an RBI single, then Parker Meadows drove another in to cut the deficit to one run and open the flood gates for Detroit. Jace Jung, Andy Ibáñez, and Trey Sweeney all got in on the fun in the fifth to take the lead. Ibáñez followed it up with a homer in the seventh, and while the White Sox were able to score another run on a sac fly, Keith killed any hopes that Chicago might be able to make an improbable comeback when he hit a two-run double in the eighth.

The White Sox have won just five series all season and split a few others. There was, of course, the 21 game losing streak from July 10 to Aug. 5, and the firing of manager Pedro Grifol. His replacement Grady Sizemore hasn't been able to do much better; the White Sox have only won three games since he took over.

The Tigers completed the four-game sweep on Monday with a 6-3 victory to drop the White Sox to 31-101. There's no doubt Detroit has had a rough franchise history since 1989, but that might turn out to be a footnote in AL Central history if (or when) the White Sox hit the worst kind of milestone when all is said and done.