Willis shaky in his debut with Tigers

DETROIT -- Dontrelle Willis was nearly unhittable. Unfortunately for the Detroit Tigers, the Chicago White Sox found other ways to get on base against him.

Willis gave up only one hit but walked seven in five-plus innings in his Tigers debut, and Detroit remained the only winless team in the majors with a 5-3 loss to the White Sox on Saturday.

Detroit is 0-5 for the first time since the Tigers dropped their first nine games in 2003 en route to a league-record 119 losses.

Staked to a 3-0 lead and working on a no-hitter, Willis gave up three runs during Chicago’s four-run sixth. He walked Nick Swisher and Orlando Cabrera before Jim Thome chased him with a run-scoring double.

“I was terrible and that’s pretty much it. But you still have to battle and try and keep your team in the game,” said Willis, obtained from Florida with Miguel Cabrera in a six-player deal.

Said Chicago’s Paul Konerko: “Early in the game we couldn’t get a hit off Willis, but kept runners on base with the walks. He was keeping us off balance. We kept our patience and the hits finally happened.”