CHICAGO – Tim Elko acknowledged some of his at-bats on Thursday against the Tigers weren’t his best. He struck out three times in his first four, chasing breaking balls out of the zone and watching a fastball land for strike three.

But all that really mattered was his fifth at-bat.

Austin Slater set the table for Elko in the tenth inning by bunting runners over to second and third base with one out. He stepped to the plate with the mindset of just putting the ball in play, whether that be in the air for a sacrifice fly or on the ground through the infield.

Initially, Elko didn’t appear to have control of the zone as he chased a slider in the dirt for strike one. But he got a good look at Tigers reliever Beau Brieske’s slider, readying him to attack the next one that hung over the plate. Elko drove it up the middle for a walk-off single and was mobbed by his teammates in celebration.

“In baseball you’ve got to have a quick memory and learn from your mistakes, then move on to the next one,” Elko said postgame. “So I was able to just kind of put those in the past and focus on that last at-bat.”

That gave the White Sox a 3-2 win. It was a big moment for Elko, who was recalled from Triple-A before Wednesday’s game.

“It means the world,” Elko said. “Every time we step on that field, we’re trying to win the game. So anytime you can contribute to that, that feels great.”

Chicago White Sox first baseman Tim Elko (30) is doused by catcher Korey Lee (26) after hitting a walk-off single against the Detroit Tigers at Rate Field. / Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Along with Elko’s clutch hit, Chase Meidroth had a big day, reaching base five times and driving in a run. Mike Tauchman drove in the other run, while Edgar Quero, Josh Rojas and Michael A. Taylor each had multi-hit days. That made for an impressive effort against Tigers starter Casey Mize, who entered Thursday’s game with a 2.82 ERA.

Sean Burke had the longest outing of his major league career, tossing seven innings with just two earned runs. Starting the last of a four-game series, Burke felt he got a good gauge of the Tigers’ lineup while watching the first three games. And when it was his turn, he thought he had good fastball command and mixed in his off-speed pitches well.

After an ugly 13-1 loss on Monday, the White Sox bounced back to win two of the next three games: 8-1 on Tuesday and 3-2 on Thursday. That also meant a series split against the Tigers, who lead MLB with 41 wins.

“It’s great. It shows the fight that we have, it shows the group that we have,” Elko said. “We’ve got good players and a great team here, so just trying to put it together and continue to win games.”