The Chicago White Sox looked like they squandered a prime scoring opportunity, when third base coach Justin Jirschele made the ill-advised decision to send Matt Thaiss—who was running from first base—home on a hard-hit double by Brooks Baldwin.
Instead, Thaiss used his hustle, luck and a bit of baserunning guile to tie the White Sox's game with the Detroit Tigers at 1 in the top of the second inning.
Tigers outfielder Kerry Carpenter quickly fielded Baldwin's hit as it caromed off the wall, throwing to cutoff man Trey Sweeney. He delivered a throw wide of the plate, but catcher Dillon Dingler had plenty of time to get back across home and apply the tag. The ball shook free as he went to throw down the tag, which Thaiss avoided, recovering to tag the plate and score.
It wasn't immediately clear how Thaiss scored, but a replay from the third baseline showed just how the wild bang-bang play went down.
Baldwin knock. Thaiss speed. #WhiteSox on the board in Detroit pic.twitter.com/Dv4zycgPWq
— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) April 4, 2025
In an AL Central division in which every team has a record of 2–4 or 2–5 entering Friday, runs and wins come at a premium.
The Tigers have since retaken a 3–1 lead, so the White Sox may need some more Thaiss magic down the stretch to steal a road afternoon win.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as White Sox Runner Dodges Fumbled Tag at Plate to Score in Unbelievable Fashion.
