The Detroit Tigers might be known for playing the Cleveland Guardians in close games, but they had another nail-biter against another divisional foe on Saturday. The Chicago White Sox, who took game one of the three-game series in Detroit, pounced on the Tigers and have taken the series after a 4-3 victory.

The Tigers sent Troy Melton to the mound, who has been everything anyone could have wanted out of a starting pitcher this season. Melton entered the game with a 1.46 ERA and looked to get Detroit back into the win column, but unfortunately, the game wasn't the only thing lost on Saturday.

Melton's Franchise-Setting Streak Ends

As soon as he made his season debut against the Baltimore Orioles on the road, Melton has played a crucial role for the Tigers' starting rotation, posting quality start after quality start. Entering his start against Chicago, Detroit were winners of seven straight games when Melton took the mound.

According to Tigers PR on X (formerly Twitter), before the game, Melton had thrown at least 5.0 innings and allowed five or fewer hits in nine straight starts, which is the longest single-season streak by a Tigers pitcher in franchise history.

That streak came to an end, as Melton went 4.1 innings, allowed nine hits, three earned runs, one walk and struck out four before handing the ball over to the bullpen. However, this was Melton's first start allowing three or more runs since June 9 against the Minnesota Twins. Pretty impressive.

On the season, following the start, Melton still holds a sub-2 ERA of 1.71 going into his next start. While this wasn't ideal for the Tigers, as they looked to get back to .500 at Comerica Park and even had the chance to take over the division with a sweep, they have to turn their attention to the next day.

After Melton allowed four runs to the Twins back in June, he rebounded and allowed two runs combined in his next three starts, surpassing 18 innings pitched. The White Sox unfortunately had his number, which could've been a result of Jake Rogers' (former Tiger) familiarity with Melton starting behind the dish in his return to Detroit.

The Tigers will send Drew Anderson to the mound for the series finale on Sunday, aiming to win at least one game in the three-game series and secure a .500 homestand. If they fail to win, Detroit will head to Pittsburgh with a homestand record of 2-4 instead of 3-3.