The White Sox were rolling and raced to a huge early lead Friday against the Tigers at Rate Field.
Then their pitching staff, including two of their go-to relievers this season, melted down in an ugly 11-8 loss that dropped them a game behind the first-place Guardians in the American League Central.
It was another defeat that hurt in the South Siders’ playoff push for a division title or an AL wild card. The Sox, now 78-76, are 6-13 since Aug. 29, when they peaked at nine games above .500 (72-63) with a victory against the Twins in Minnesota.
The Sox staked rookie right-hander David Sandlin to a 8-2 lead in this one, scoring six runs — all unearned — in the first inning and adding two more on Miguel Vargas’ 32nd home run in the third.
But Sandlin and the Sox’ bullpen couldn’t hold it.
‘‘That’s tough, no way about it,’’ manager Will Venable said. ‘‘We obviously have a special first inning there and get the lead. [Then Vargas] with a nice homer. And then, yeah, just weren’t able to get any outs.’’
The Tigers pulled to 8-5 in the fifth on a bases-loaded triple by Kevin McGonigle. Rookie left-hander Hagen Smith relieved Sandlin, who seemed in control through four innings but suddenly couldn’t get an out.
‘‘I mean, that’s what you ask for as a starting pitcher,’’ Sandlin said. ‘‘Those guys went to work for me, and I couldn’t go to work for them at the end of the day. That’s on me.
‘‘I’ve got to get more than four innings as a starter and save the bullpen.’’
Adding to the pain, All-Star outfielder Tristan Peters — who was playing right — hit the wall hard trying to snare McGonigle’s drive and left the game. He suffered a bruised left shoulder and is day-to-day.
The Sox’ bullpen certainly didn’t save this one, either. The Tigers narrowed their deficit to 8-6 on an RBI double by Hao-Yu Lee against left-hander Chris Murphy in the sixth, then scored five runs in the eighth on the strength of two-run homers by Lee and Riley Greene.
Lee smacked a two-run shot to right off left-hander Sean Newcomb’s center-cut high fastball to tie the score 8-8 after Newcomb had hit Eduardo Valencia with a pitch on an 0-2 count.
Newcomb then walked McGonigle. Left-hander Bryan Hudson entered and yielded two singles that put the Tigers ahead 9-8 before Greene launched his 21st homer to complete the rally.
Newcomb (2-5) was charged the loss, yielding three runs while getting only two outs. He has been scored on in six of his last seven outings, allowing 12 runs in eight innings, after going 11 appearances without yielding a run.
Hudson, who has been ultra-reliable this season, allowed two runs and four hits in a third of an inning. He hadn’t been scored on in his 11 previous outings spanning 12⅓ innings.
‘‘We couldn’t slow them down,’’ Venable said. ‘‘It didn’t really matter what spots we put guys in.’’
After the game, Peters said he ‘‘felt all right and better than initially’’ but was ‘‘really sore.’’ He said the impact from hitting the right-center wall affected ‘‘the back of my shoulder and kind of crunched by shoulders forward.’’
‘‘I’ve always been a guy that’s going to run into the wall and try to make plays,’’ he said.