CHICAGO — Jack Flaherty gave up five runs in a tough fifth inning, and the Detroit Tigers were stymied by a rookie starter in a 9-6 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night at Rate Field.

The Tigers (69-52) and White Sox (44-76) have split the first two games of the three-game series.

Flaherty allowed four straight singles to open the decisive fifth inning. The first three all could have been outs: a liner off second baseman Gleyber Torres’ glove; a sinking liner that center fielder Wenceel Pérez nearly caught on a dive; and a high blooper that dropped into no-man’s land behind third base.

Colson Montgomery, who had struck out twice earlier in the game, delivered the biggest blow with a bases-loaded, two-run single to put the Sox ahead 3-1. Luis Robert followed with another bloop that landed between two fielders in shallow right, ending Flaherty’s night.

All told, Flaherty gave up six singles in the inning. Reliever Brant Hurter entered and walked two of the first three batters he faced before the Tigers finally escaped, trailing 5-1.

“It’s kind of frickin’ hard at this point to chalk (it) up to bad luck,” Flaherty said after the game. “I mean, call it what you want. You execute pitches and balls fall in, you can say (it) is bad luck, but it’s just frustrating at this point.

“I’m still trying to digest exactly what went on. I felt like I made a lot of good pitches.”

Meanwhile, White Sox starter Yoendrys Gómez cruised in his first career start after 18 relief appearances. He struck out seven and allowed just one run on one hit — Riley Greene’s double in the second inning — over five innings.

The Tigers finally generated offense in the seventh. Pinch-hitter Andy Ibáñez led off with a single against lefty Tyler Gilbert, and Dillon Dingler followed with a drive to center. Luis Robert appeared to have a bead on it, but after an awkward leap against the fence, the ball tipped off his glove and over for a two-run homer.

White Sox rookie catcher Edgar Quero answered with a solo homer off Tigers reliever Cody Heuer in the bottom half.

Tigers reliever Tommy Kahnle’s struggles continued with two walks and a wild pitch in the eighth inning. Both runners scored on a single by Quero.

“We had six walks out of the bullpen. That’s too many,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch. “We gave them a lot of opportunities to create innings, and they scored in three innings in a row, with each of those innings having a walk involved. It’s not been our norm, but when it happens, and it happens in bunches like that, it can really hurt you.”

Colt Keith cut the lead to three runs with a three-run homer, his 10th of the year, in the ninth inning.

The start of the game was delayed 50 minutes due to heavy rain throughout the afternoon, but the sun eventually emerged, and fans were treated to a wide, vibrant pregame rainbow as the grounds crew prepared the field.

This story will be updated.

BOX SCORE

Up next: The Tigers and White Sox wrap up their series on Wednesday at 2:10 p.m. Eastern time.

Right-hander Shane Smith (3-7, 4.22 ERA) will start for the White Sox.

The Tigers will likely mix and match in a bullpen day and/or give extended work to right-hander Troy Melton (2-1, 3.63 ERA).

Tigers -1.5 runline is listed at +136 on FanDuel for Wednesday’s game versus the White Sox. Our complete FanDuel Sportsbook review provides a guide on how to register and use their site.