*Photo from South Side Sox*
It was a clash of two high powered offenses, and it did not disappoint. Luis Robert homered, Andrew Vaughn drove in two runs, and the Chicago White Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays with a 8-7 victory on Monday night in Chicago.
Thanks to the contributions of Vaughn, Robert, and Josh Harrison, who each drove in two runs, the White Sox were able to start their series with the Blue Jays on the right foot, also picking up their 6th win in 10 games, rising to just one game under .500, and 3 1/2 games back in the wild card race.
White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, when asked about the play of Vaughn, said that "He can't be beat. He’s unstoppable. As long as he stays in that mind frame, he’s going to be great. Just keep swinging it, for sure."
Vaughn got the White Sox going right away in the first inning, hitting an RBI double to make it a 1-0 lead. In the second inning, Raimel Tapia hit a two run home run for the Blue Jays, and Josh Harrison hit one for the White Sox, making it a 3-2 game. In the 3rd inning, Robert hit a two run homer of his own, and Vaughn added a solo shot in the 4th, putting the White Sox ahead by a 6-2 score.
In the 5th inning, the White Sox plated two more runs, taking an 8-2 lead on an RBI groundout from Reese McGuire and an RBI single from Adam Engel. In the 6th inning, the Blue Jays started to come back. Teoscar Hernandez started it with a two run double, and Santiago Espinal hit an RBI groundout, which made it an 8-5 game. A two run home run in the 9th by Cavan Biggio made it 8-7, but the White Sox slammed the door after that.
White Sox manager Tony La Russa said of Harrison after the game that "With him, it was the complete package. He's really a winning player that comes out there every day to do what it takes. And then, he's also outstanding in the clubhouse or wherever the guys are. It's what he's done his whole career, right? Nice timing. Timing is perfect for him to get hot for us."
Starting for the White Sox was Lance Lynn, who allowed 5 runs on 4 hits over 5 innings of work. Reynaldo Lopez came on and fired two shutout innings of relief, followed by one inning from both Kendall Graveman and Joe Kelly, with Kelly picking up the save.
Jose Berrios toed the rubber for the Blue Jays and got hit hard, allowing 6 runs on 9 hits, lasting just 4 innings. David Phelps allowed two runs in one inning after Berrios left. From that point on, Trent Thornton and Matt Gage had shutout appearances out of the bullpen.
Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said of the rotation struggles that "It’s all about the starters and if they go deep or not. If they don’t go deep, it’s tough to cover five innings of baseball against good teams. It’s all about the starters. If the starters go deep, it’s easy to cover a game. If they don’t, it’s tougher."
Up next, the White Sox and Blue Jays continue their series on Tuesday night. The White Sox are starting Dylan Cease, while Kevin Gausman takes the mound for the Blue Jays.
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