By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com

Tigers 5, White Sox 3 (11 inn.) – Justin Upton continued his heroics on Monday by hitting a three-run home run in the 11th inning to lead the Tigers to an extra innings win over the Chicago White Sox.

LSJ Logo incertUpton has hit eight home runs in the last 15 Detroit games while knocking in 21 runs.

The Tigers opened the scoring in the first and third innings on a solo homers by Miguel Cabrera to take a 2-0 lead.

Chicago responded with a run in both the third and seventh inning to tie the game 2-2 to force extra innings.

Upton’s home run in the 11th inning gave Detroit a 5-2 advantage before the White Sox closed the scoring with a run in the bottom half of the 11th frame.Eye on the D

Cabrera paced the Tigers offense with four hits while James McCann chipped in with two singles.

Detroit’s starting pitcher Justin Verlander took a no-decision, allowing two runs on eight hits while striking out 11 batters in seven innings.

Tigers’ relief pitcher Alex Wilson picked up his second win of the year while closer Francisco Rodriguez notched his 39th save of the season.

The White Sox was led in a losing effort by former Tiger Avisail Garcia with three hits while Tim Anderson chipped in with two.

The Tigers are now 75-62 on the season, good for second place in the American League Central Division behind the Cleveland Indians. They are tied with the Baltimore Orioles for the final playoff spot.

Detroit will look to win its third straight game with a victory over the White Sox on Tuesday night.

Record: 75-62

2nd Place in AL Central Division (4.5 games behind first-place Cleveland)

Tied with Baltimore for the last playoff spot

Magic # to clinch a playoff spot: 26

Magic # to clinch an AL Central Division title: 31

Next Game: 09/06/2016 @ Chicago White Sox 8:10 p.m. @ US Cellular Field

Hitting stats: Miguel Cabrera 2 HR (31) 2 RBI (87), Justin Upton HR (21) 3 RBI (67).

Pitching stats: Alex Wilson W (2-0) 1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 2 K, Francisco Rodriguez SV (39) 1 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 2 K, Justin Verlander 7 IP 8 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 11 K.