Chicago White Sox: Five games that ruined the 2022 season
By Tim Healey
Detroit Tigers 5, White Sox 4 – April 8, 2022
The Chicago White Sox started 2022 off on a bad note with an Opening Day loss.
The Sox appeared to be in a position to take Opening Day from Detroit after Andrew Vaughn hit a go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth inning.
Then Eric Haase tied it before Austin Meadows tripled and ex-Chicago Cub Javy Baez hit what initially appeared to be the game-ending fly ball. Instead of right fielder AJ Pollock catching it, the replay showed that the ball had hit the wall, thus scoring Meadows.
Closer Liam Hendriks’ blown save seemed to set the tone for the season. But it wasn’t just a bad inning – the game slipped away from the Sox. Starter Lucas Giolito was cruising early, the Tigers didn’t score until the sixth and it looked like a Sox win.
But Giolito departed after the fourth inning due to abdominal tightness and the Tigers eventually tied it on Miguel Cabrera’s 2,988th career hit.
Detroit thought the win might signal that the Tigers had arrived, especially after the acquisitions of Baez and Meadows but the Tigers soon slipped out of the playoff race.
Meanwhile, the game served as a bad omen for the Sox. There was a lot of excitement for the 2022 Sox to make another playoff run but the excruciating Opening Day loss was just a harbinger of the season to come.