White Sox send Tyler Davis back to Triple-A

Rumfield blasted a solo shot off Sean Burke in the top of the second inning to give the Rockies their first and only run of the game. It was the 16th homer of the season for Rumfield, who has homered three times in September while slashing a scorcing .351/.425/.545.

The White Sox wasted little time getting after Sugano. After a sacrifice fly by Miguel Vargas brought home Kyle Teel to put the Sox on the board, Munetaka Murakami added to the lead with a 403-foot solo homer to put Chicago up 2-0. Sugano would make it out of the second inning without much trouble, but gave up another in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Teel to bring home Braden Montgomery. Sugano would end up tying a season-high in innings pitched in this one, making it through 6 2/3 innings before being pulled after allowing another homer to Murakami and then a single to Randal Grichuk with two outs. The soon-to-be 37-year-old righty ends the year with a 12-12 record and a 5.37 ERA and is set to enter free agency this offseason.

Murakami blasted a 403-foot homer off of Tomoyuki Sugano in the bottom of the first inning to put the White Sox up 2-0, and would get the best of Sugano again in the seventh inning on another solo homer to extend Chicago’s lead to 4-1. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Murakami would single to drive home Sam Antonacci, pushing his RBI total to 77 on the season. Murakami is now sitting on 35 homers with two games left to go in the regular season for the White Sox.

Burke was taken deep by TJ Rumfield in the top of the second inning to cut the White Sox’s lead to 2-1, but he would settle in after that to turn in a solid outing, allowing just three runners to reach base until the sixth inning, when he would be pulled after giving up a one-out double to Hunter Goodman. Burke ends the regular season with an 11-7 record and a 3.34 ERA. Burke has pitched well as the White Sox prepare for the postseason, allowing just three earned runs over his last 16 1/3 innings of work while striking out 16 batters.

Simpson was removed from the game as he was feeling a bit sore afterwards, but it doesn’t sound like there’s any concern or any plans for additional testing. He’s considered day-to-day and could return to the Rays’ lineup before the weekend is through.

Varland entered in the ninth inning with his sights set on his 35th save of the season. The righty needed just 11 pitches to secure the win for the Blue Jays, ending a three-game losing streak. Varland’s 35 saves put him in a tie for the third-most saves of any pitcher this season, with two games left to go on the schedule.

Elly joined the 30/30 club in the top of the third inning when he doubled off Blue Jays starter José Soriano and then stole third soon after. The double was also the 30th of the season for Elly, who became the fourth player in Reds history to join the 30/30 club and continues to swing a hot bat in the final week of the season. Elly is slashing .377/.461/.792 in September with 14 extra-base hits, 17 RBI and five steals.

Torkelson smacked a two-run triple in the second inning to get the Tigers on the board on a ball that trickled past a diving Jake Mangum in right field. He then blooped a double into center field on a ball that Oneil Cruz misplayed in the fifth inning. The 27-year-old slugger then connected on a 387-foot (105.2-mph EV) solo shot off of Wilber Dotel in the seventh that extended the Tigers’ lead to 8-2 and proved to be the difference in the game. With his three-hit attack, Torkelson is now hitting .232/.331/.439 with 26 homers and 77 RBI on the season.

Valencia led off the second inning with a walk and scored the Tigers’ first run on a two-out, two-run triple off the bat of Spencer Torkelson. He then singled and scored on a two-run single by Dillon Dingler in the third inning. Valencia also started a rally with a two-out walk in the sixth and scored on a fielder’s choice. He has impressed in his limited action with the Tigers, slashing .350/.391/.617 with six homers and 18 RBI in his first 129 plate appearances at the game’s highest level.

It didn’t look like Jansen would be needed as the Tigers took an 8-2 lead into the eighth inning, but after a five-run uprising by the Pirates in that frame, Jansen came on to close it out. He needed just 13 pitches (eight strikes) to retire the Pirates in order, tallying the 498th save of his career. With two games left to play, there’s still a chance that Jansen could reach that illustrious 500 number before all is said and done.