The bats were lively once again this afternoon for the Sox, while Lucas Giolito turned in a solid performance as the Sox swept the Royals and expanded their lead in the AL Central. After an 8 run performance yesterday, the offense picked up where it left off, with Yermin Mercedes leading the charge, cashing in 3 RBI’s off of a couple of extra-base hits (2B and 3B). Jose Abreu, Leury Garcia, and Danny Mendick also drove in runs of their own, adding to the nine-run output. Giolito was followed by Evan Marshall, Codi Heuer, Aaron Bummer, and Jose Ruiz as the Sox improved to 19-13 on the season.
W: Giolito (2-3) | L: Minor (2-2)
Savant Leaders
Notable Performances
Lucas Giolito: 5 IP, 2 K, 2 BB, 4 H, 1 ER
It was a bit of a rocky start to the 1st inning for Giolito, who did not boast his best stuff today but battled through it, limiting the damage and and turning in another effective performance. He lowered his ERA to 4.54 in this performance and battled as an ace should.
Yermin Mercedes: 2-5, 3 RBI, 1 K
It’s no secret that Mercedes has come back down to earth a bit in the last week or two, which was to be expected after his scorching start, but he showed off his power once again today in the matchup against Mike Minor. He got the Sox on the board in the 2nd inning with an RBI triple, and managed another double later in the game as well. Even with his mini-slump, Mercedes is still hitting .373 on the season.
Andrew Vaughn: 1-3, 1 BB, 2 Runs
Andrew Vaughn has seen the bat come alive in recent days and continued to display his ability once again today. With the injuries to Eloy Jimenez and now Luis Robert, the Sox really need Vaughn’s bat to come through, so it’s encouraging to see him continue to find his hits and get on base. As he continues to drive balls to the gap, it’s only a matter of time until he starts putting the ball over the fence.
Jose Abreu: 2-4, 3 RBI, 2 K
We haven’t seen Abreu completely locked in yet at this point of the season, but he continues to find ways to be productive and drive in runs regardless, which is even more needed with Luis Robert now out of the lineup. Abreu has raised his average to .220 on the season after his three-RBI performance today.
Aaron Bummer: 1.2 IP, 3 K, 0 Hits, 0 BB
With the Sox bullpen seeing some recent struggles from guys like Codi Heuer, Evan Marshall and Matt Foster, Bummer has been a much needed model of consistency and continued his dominance this afternoon. After a bit of a rough start to his season, it appears Aaron Bummer has found his best stuff once again.
Matchup of the Game
After Evan Marshall took over for Lucas Giolito in the 6th inning and walked two batters, Codi Heuer came on in relief of Marshall. Heuer himself walked another batter, with the Royals able to knock in a run. With two runners remaining on base and a chance to make it a much closer game, Heuer was able to get Hanser Alberto to flyout, preserving the 4 run lead for the Sox.
Other Highlights
Next Game
The White Sox are off tomorrow, but take on the struggling Minnesota Twins on Tuesday at 7:10 PM Central time, the first of a three-game series. Dylan Cease (2-0, 2.37 ERA) is scheduled to get the start against Kenta Maeda for the Twins.
The game can be viewed as always on NBC Sports Chicago.
