CHICAGO – The Sawyer Gipson-Long storyline was relegated to the bottom of the marquee Wednesday night.

He returned after an 18-month rehab journey after multiple surgeries, but he was long gone by the time the Tigers scratched across a run in the eighth inning to beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-4, on a rainy night at Rate Field.

The Tigers squandered a 4-0 lead and managed just two hits between the second and seventh innings.

Wenceel Perez led off the eighth with a drive into the left-center gap which he hustled into a double. He was initially called out at second. Centerfielder Michael A. Taylor made a strong throw. But replays showed that no tag was applied and the call was overturned.

With one out, against right-handed reliever Jordan Leasure, Colt Keith hit a bloop behind third base that fell just inside the line and just out of the reach of a sliding left fielder Andrew Benintendi.

It extended Keith’s hitting streak to a career-best 10 games and broke the 4-4 tie.

The inning ended like a keystone cops clip. After Zach McKinstry walked, the Tigers had runners a first and second with two outs.

Gleyber Torres hit a ground ball to shortstop. Chase Meidroth threw errantly to second. But McKinstry ran past the bag and Keith kept running around third. Second baseman Josh Rojas smartly opted to throw home, his throw easily beating Keith to the plate.

Tigers’ manager AJ Hinch made a smart but unusual decision. With the game still tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh, he brought in righty Will Vest, he has recently been closing games.

But the White Sox were at the top of the order, and Vest quickly dispatched six straight hitters.

That left the ninth for Tommy Kahnle and he set the White Sox down in order for his eighth save.

Gipson-Long, in his first start since September of 2023, had to wait out a one hour, 35-minute rain delay and was staked to a four-run lead before he stepped onto the mound.

Unfortunately, his outing didn’t last as long as the delay.

After breezing through the first two innings, Gipson-Long’s sinker started to flatten out and the White Sox started making loud contact.

He lasted 3.2 innings, allowing three runs and five hits. The average exit velocity on the 12 balls put in play against him was a robust 94 mph.

Mike Tauchman (double) and Meidroth (single) each had RBI knocks off Gipson-Long’s sinker in the third inning. Benintendi led off the fourth with a double, also off a sinker.

Riley Greene, who had three hits and knocked in two runs, saved Gipson-Long a run temporarily by making an outstanding diving catch of a sinking liner hit by Joshua Palacios.

Tim Elko followed with a single and Rojas ended Gipson-Long’s night with a sacrifice fly.

It probably wasn’t the conquering return he’d dreamt about, but he’s back in the competition and that’s a good start.

The White Sox tied the game in the fifth after loading the bases against reliever John Brebbia. Benintendi’s sacrifice fly off lefty Tyler Holton drove in the tying run.

The sizzle in the Tigers’ bats was doused by White Sox righty Mike Vasil. The Rule 5 draftee blanked them for 3.2 innings. He allowed one hit, a double by Greene in the fifth.

The Tigers loaded the bases but with two outs, righty reliever Steven Wilson stuck out Keith to end the threat.

Wilson pitched a clean sixth and lefty Brandon Eisert a clean seventh before giving up the leadoff double to Perez in the eighth.

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