White Sox wrap up record-breaking losing season with 9-5 win over playoff-bound Tigers

DETROIT (AP) — Lenyn Sosa hit a three-run homer in the third inning to give the record-breaking Chicago White Sox a five-run lead as they went on to beat the playoff-bound Detroit Tigers 9-5 on Sunday.

Kerry Carpenter's grand slam in the fifth inning pulled Detroit within a run, but it couldn't get closer. Bryan Ramos' two-run single in a four-run seventh inning restored Chicago's comfortable cushion.

Detroit earned an American League wild card with a win over the White Sox on Friday night to end a decade-long playoff drought and will play at Houston on Tuesday in a best-of-three series, with the winner facing Cleveland in the AL Division Series.

“Baseball, it's going to take you places and sometimes to places you've been,” said Hinch, who was fired by the Astros in 2020 after being suspended by Major League Baseball for the team’s illicit use of electronics to steal signs during Houston’s run to the 2017 World Series title and again in the 2018 season.

The Tigers finished 86-76, an eight-game improvement over last year, for their first winning season since 2016 with a surge that saw them win 31 of the last 46 games.

“We have all the confidence in the world,” Tigers All-Star outfielder Riley Greene said. “We know we have what it takes. We’re going to go there and show them what we got.”

The White Sox wrapped up with 121 losses, breaking the post-1900 record of most losses held for more than a half-century by the 1962 New York Mets. The overall record for setbacks was set in 1899 by the Cleveland Spiders with a 20-134 record.

White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf called the season “embarrassing” and a “failure” and took responsibility in a letter issued to fans during the game.

Chicago won 41 games — 20 fewer than last season — after ending with five wins in six games for the team's best stretch of success since early May.

The White Sox fired manager Pedro Grifol in early August and promoted Grady Sizemore to interim manager.

“It would be so easy in a season like this to have a lot of negativity and a lot of back and forth and bickering and fighting, but there hasn’t been any of that," Sizemore said. "They’ve stayed together as a family. That’s what’s made it fun for everybody even though we got the wins and losses.”

Jonathan Cannon (5-10) allowed four runs on four hits and three walks over five innings when Chicago's season mercifully came to a close.

Kenta Maeda (3-7) gave up five runs on five hits and one walk over 4 2/3 innings in his latest shaky performance. The Tigers gave him a $24 million, two-year contract last November and the 36-year-old Japanese right-hander might not make the playoff roster.

Playing for pride, the White Sox showed some fight over the final week of the lost season.

Korey Lee hit an RBI single in the second, scoring Sosa, and Dominic Fletcher's sacrifice fly later in the inning put Chicago ahead 2-0. Sosa hit Maeda's 84-mph splitter over the left-field fence to clear the bases and put the White Sox up 5-0 in the third inning.

The Tigers drew 41,740 fans on Sunday and 1,855,763 for the season after 1,612,876 people attended games in 2023 at Comerica Park. Detroit had 128,108 fans attend the final series, its highest total for a three-game set since 2012.

The White Sox will play the Cubs on Feb. 22 in their spring training opener.

The Tigers will play the Astros on the road in a three-game series, starting Tuesday.

“We're trying to go win a series so we could bring a home playoff game to Comerica,” Hinch said.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Detroit Tigers pitcher Keider Montero throws against the Chicago White Sox in the seventh inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize throws against the Chicago White Sox in the sixth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Tigers' Kerry Carpenter celebrates his grand slam against the Chicago White Sox in the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Chicago White Sox's Bryan Ramos hits a two-run single against the Detroit Tigers in the seventh inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Chicago White Sox's Jacob Amaya hits a one-run single against the Detroit Tigers in the seventh inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Chicago White Sox pitcher Prelander Berroa throws against the Detroit Tigers in the eighth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Chicago White Sox shortstop Jacob Amaya can't reach a Detroit Tigers' Wenceel Pérez single in the eighth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Chicago White Sox interim manger Grady Sizemore watches against the Detroit Tigers in the eighth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Chicago White Sox pitcher Fraser Ellard throws against the Detroit Tigers in the sixth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Tigers' Kerry Carpenter hits a grand slam against the Chicago White Sox in the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Tigers' Kerry Carpenter, right, celebrates his grand slam against the Chicago White Sox in the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Tigers pitcher Kenta Maeda (18) walks in the dugout against the Chicago White Sox in the third inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Chicago White Sox's Lenyn Sosa celebrates his three-run home run against the Detroit Tigers in the third inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

CONYERS, Ga. (AP) — Some residents east of Atlanta were evacuated while others were told to shelter in place Sunday to avoid contaminants from a chemical plant fire that sent a massive plume of dark smoke high into the sky that could be seen from miles away.

Interstate 20 was shut down in both directions in the area, the Georgia Department of Transportation said in a post on X. Reports said traffic was snarled as vehicles backed up in the area after the closure.

The fire ignited when a sprinkler head malfunctioned around 5 a.m. Sunday at the BioLab plant in Conyers, Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDaniel told reporters. The malfunction caused water to mix with a water-reactive chemical, producing a plume of chemicals.

McDaniel said there were employees inside the plant but no injuries have been reported at this time, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The newspaper said the billowing cloud of smoke was visible Sunday afternoon as far as 30 miles (50 kilometers) away at Atlanta's international airport south of the city. It added no injuries were immediately reported.

“Once we can get that chemical out of the building and allow it to burn off we’ll be in a much better shape,” McDaniel said.

McDaniel said she wasn't sure what chemicals may have been contained in the plume.

BioLab’s website says it is the swimming pool and spa water care division of Lawrenceville, Georgia-based KIK Consumer Products. An automated message at the phone number on the parent company’s website said to call back during business hours.

“We are actively responding to an occurrence at our facility in Conyers, Georgia,” a BioLab representative said in a statement provided to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Our employees are accounted for with no injuries reported. Our team is on the scene, working with first responders and local authorities to assess and contain the situation.”

A small fire on the plant's roof was initially contained, but reignited Sunday afternoon, Sheriff Eric Levett said in a video posted on Facebook as gray smoke spewed into the sky behind him. He said authorities were trying to get the fire under control and urged people to stay away from the area.

People in the northern part of Rockdale County, north of Interstate 20, were ordered to evacuate and others were told to shelter in place with windows and doors closed. Sheriff's office spokesperson Christine Nesbitt did not know the number of people evacuated although it covered a large portion of the community of Conyers.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division were both on site, county Emergency Management Director Sharon Webb said. The agencies are monitoring the air “to give us more of an idea of what the plume consists of.”

McDaniel said crews were working on removing the chemical from the building, away from the water source. Once the product is contained, the situation will be assessed and officials will let residents know whether it is safe to return to their homes, she said.

In this image taken from video from WSB-TV, smoke fills the air from a fire at the nearby BioLab plant, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Conyers, Ga. (WSB-TV via AP)

In this image taken from video from WSB-TV, smoke rises from the roof of a BioLab plant, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Conyers, Ga. (WSB-TV via AP)