Dominant bullpen performance puts White Sox back into tie for first place

Chicago White Sox pitcher Grant Taylor. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Dominant bullpen performance puts White Sox back into tie for first place

By Alan Rubenstein | Last updated Sep 17, 2026 11:41 PM ET

The Chicago White Sox bullpen pitched 5.1 scoreless innings in a critical 3-1 win over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday night. With the win, the White Sox are back in first place in the American League Central, tied with the Cleveland Guardians.

Cleveland knocked the White Sox out of first place for the first time since July 3 with wins in the final two games of their three-game series that concluded on Wednesday. The win over Detroit was critical for the White Sox to tie Cleveland for the AL Central Division lead.

Erick Fedde started and pitched 4.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits, two walks and six strikeouts. Fedde was pulled after allowing a two-out double to Detroit catcher Dillon Dingler that advanced Gleyber Torres to third base. Bryan Hudson relieved Fedde and struck out red-hot Riley Greene, and the White Sox got out of the fifth inning.

Hudson allowed a leadoff single in the sixth inning to Spencer Torkelson, who was thrown out at second by White Sox left fielder Randal Grichuk. Hudson induced the next two batters to ground out, ending the inning.

It’s been a complete Houdini act by #WhiteSox pitching so far tonight.

Detroit has had multiple runners on base in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, and 8th.

Just 1 run to show for it.
— Sam Phalen (@Sam_Phalen) September 18, 2026

Backend of White Sox bullpen shuts down Tigers

Jordan Hicks entered the game in the seventh inning for the White Sox. Hicks struck out the first two batters he faced before allowing an infield single to Kevin McGonigle and a walk to Torres. That ended Hicks' night. Grant Taylor relieved Hicks and pitched the final 2.1 innings to earn his ninth save.

Taylor allowed two hits with two walks and one strikeout. McGonigle grounded out to shortstop to end the seventh. Detroit threatened in the eighth inning with a walk and a single. Brett Callahan was thrown out at third base on an infield single by Max Clark to end the eighth.

Detroit threatened again in the ninth inning, but Taylor got Torres to ground into a double play to end the game. Entering Thursday's games, the White Sox were eighth in MLB with a 3.77 bullpen earned run average and first with 614 innings thrown. The White Sox bullpen will need to continue being productive for the remainder of the season.

Alan Rubenstein

More must-reads: