Ironic, yes, that after José Abreu had a stellar series defensively against Cleveland, it was a bobble by the Chicago White Sox first baseman that allowed the eventual game-winner in tonight’s 4-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
With one out in the eighth, in a mess of relief pitcher Juan Minaya’s own doing, Rule 5 attaché Victor Reyes grounded to Abreu, who was pulled in on the infield grass to gun down John Hicks if he tried for home. Either the contact play was on, or Hicks made a bad read, because he should have run into an out; instead, the Detroit first sacker barely snuck in with a deft left hand, as Abreu bobbled the baseball on the exchange from his glove, delaying catcher Omar Narváez’s tag by a precious milliseconds and allowing the Tigers to go up, 4-3.