The White Sox offense has come alive in Oakland, and for the first time in team history, has recorded 20+ hits in multiple games in a series.
Much like the first game of this series, the White Sox scored early and often on their way to another 10-run game. Yasmani Grandal got the party started early, driving in AJ Pollock with a single back through the middle on a drawn-in infield in the second inning.
Two batters later, Elvis Andrus continued to terrorize his old team, hammering his second home run of the series and 13th of the season – a three-run shot that would serve as the difference in this one.
Throughout the rest of the game, the White Sox put up great at-bats throughout, and when it was all said and done, put up 10 runs on the strength of 20 hits. The club only struck out six times on the afternoon and walked four times. Gavin Sheets was the only starter to not record a hit, while Elvis Andrus, Jose Abreu, Eloy Jimenez, AJ Pollock, Andrew Vaughn, and Josh Harrison recorded multi-hit days – with both Pollock and Vaughn putting up four hits. All told, it was a consistently dominant afternoon for the White Sox offense.
On the other side of things, Lance Lynn took the mound for the White Sox and continued his recent stretch of dominance. Hw pitched over a knee injury scare in the first inning, completing a total of six innings in which he gave up two runs – neither earned – and shut down multiple rallies throughout the day that Oakland was able to mount with the help of some defensive miscues. He would strike out just five on the afternoon, but lowered his season ERA to 4.07 in the process. Behind Lynn, Jimmy Lambert, Jake Diekman, and Jose Ruiz threw scoreless innings, once again giving the high leverage arms in the White Sox bullpen a chance to breathe down the stretch in September.
With the win, the White Sox will, at worst, keep pace with the Guardians and gain a game on the Twins. Alternatively, they could find themselves just 0.5 games back of the AL Central lead should the Guardians lose tonight. Either way, Miggy’s Boys sit at 72-68 on the season, while Cairo sits at 9-3 as a manager this season.
W: Lance Lynn (6-5) | L: Adrian Martinez (4-4)
StatCast Breakdown
Box Score
Offensive Recap:
Pitching Recap:
White Sox Scoring Recap:
Top 2nd: Yasmani Grandal singles to CF. AJ Pollock scores. 1-0 White Sox
Top 2nd: Elvis Andrus homers (13) to CF. Yasmani Grandal, Josh Harrison score. 4-0 White Sox
Top 4th: Eloy Jimenez hits a sacrifice fly to RF. Yoan Moncada scores. 5-0 White Sox
Top 4th: Andrew Vaughn doubles to LF. Jose Abreu, AJ Pollock score. 7-0 White Sox
Top 7th: Eloy Jimenez singles to CF. Elvis Andrus, Yoan Moncada score. 9-2 White Sox
Top 8th: Yasmani Grandal hits a sacrifice fly to CF. AJ Pollock scores. 10-2 White Sox
Notable Performances
Lance Lynn: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Lance Lynn continues to look better the further he gets from his original knee injury. The big right-hander recorded 21 swinging strikes today and was able to pitch over some knee discomfort. It might be something worth monitoring down the stretch for Lynn, who is a crucial part of the rotation and will be relied on if the White Sox are to make the playoffs.
Eloy Jimenez: 3-for-4, 3 RBI
There are few players who have been as good as Eloy Jimenez in the second half, and he continued his reign of terror on AL pitching in today’s three-hit effort.
AJ Pollock: 4-for-5, 3 R, K
AJ Pollock has been excellent as of late for the White Sox, and he has quietly gotten his average up to .249 on the season with a .689 OPS. It’s been far from a strong season for Pollock, but it’s gotten better as of late.
Andrew Vaughn: 4-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI
Andrew Vaughn hasn’t had the world’s best second half, but today was a huge step forward for the White Sox’ first baseman of the future. Vaughn put the game out of reach for good with his two-RBI double in the fourth and added three other hits on the day for good measure.
Other Game Highlights:
Next Matchup
The White Sox will try to finish off the sweep in Oakland tomorrow afternoon, as Johnny Cueto will head to the hill against Cole Irvin.
The game will begin at 3:07 PM CT once again over on NBC Sports Chicago.
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Featured Image: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports
