Anderson homers, White Sox beat Tigers 5-3

DETROIT - Tim Anderson homered in a three-run fifth inning, and the Chicago White Sox went on to a 5-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night.

Anderson went 1 for 4, lowering his American League-leading average to .335, but the one hit was a no-doubter of a home run to left field.

Iván Nova (11-12) allowed two runs and eight hits in five innings for Chicago and three relievers finished. Alex Colomé gave up a run in the ninth but held on for his 29th save in 31 chances.

Detroit (45-109) matched the 1996 Tigers for the second-most losses in franchise history behind 119 in 2003.

Anderson opened the scoring with his 18th home run, a solo shot off Tyler Alexander (1-4). The inning only got worse for the Detroit left-hander: After singles by José Abreu and Eloy Jiménez, Yoán Moncada hit a two-run triple.

Detroit answered with two runs in the fifth. Victor Reyes hit an RBI groundout, and Brandon Dixon followed with an unusual sacrifice fly to first baseman José Abreu. Willi Castro tagged up from third and scored when Abreu caught a popup in foul ground and tumbled into the stands.

Abreu hit a two-run single in the eighth to push the Chicago lead back to three.

Nova was working just three days after his previous outing, when he went one inning as an opener against Minnesota. His performance against Detroit was a step in the right direction. He was 1-3 with a 7.13 ERA over his previous six starts.

Alexander allowed three runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Tigers: Miguel Cabrera, who has been dealing with a troublesome right knee, did not play.

UP NEXT

White Sox: Reynaldo López (9-14) starts the series finale for Chicago on Sunday.

Tigers: Detroit sends Matthew Boyd (8-11) to the mound as it tries to avoid a three-game sweep.