When Paul DeJong was traded to Kansas City on July 30, he led the White Sox in home runs with 18. Several weeks later, DeJong was finally passed on the White Sox home run leaderboard by Andrew Benintendi, who hit two bombs against the Angels on Monday night to power the White Sox to an 8-4 victory.
Facing Reid Detmers, the White Sox didn't waste much time getting the offense rolling. After a Luis Robert Jr. walk, Benintendi bashed his first home run of the night to right field to give the White Sox an early 2-0 lead. Two pitches later, Andrew Vaughn crushed a Detmers fastball for a solo home run out to center field. Suddenly, the White Sox were up 3-0.
The offense rampage continued in the second inning. A Jacob Amaya walk and Zach DeLoach infield single set the table for Robert. Hitting a high chopper to first base, Robert's speed played a factor in the exchange as Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel's toss deflected off Detmers' glove. While Robert is credited with an infield single, the error charged on Schnauel resulted from Amaya scoring from second base.
Benintendi picked up his third RBI of the night with an RBI groundout to plate DeLoach, and the White Sox were up 5-0. Next was Vaughn, and he almost hit his second homer of the night with a deep fly to center field. Angels outfielder Jordyn Adams didn't time his jump and watched the fly ball bounce off the wall. That allowed Robert to score and Vaughn to scoot his way for an RBI triple. The White Sox were up 6-0, and the odds looked great to extend their winning streak.
Lenyn Sosa hit his fifth home run of the season with a solo shot in the third inning, and Benintendi hit his second homer of the night with a solo shot in the seventh inning. The four home runs matched a season-high against Colorado on June 29 and Arizona on June 15.
Jonathan Cannon was pitching for the White Sox, and he was allowed to drive in cruise control for most of the night. Despite allowing two solo home runs, Cannon was efficient by throwing 100 pitches while going 6.2 IP 3 H 4 ER 2 BB 7 K. Tonight was Cannon's seventh Quality Start and his first since against Oakland on August 6.
The money pitch for Cannon was his sinker, which he threw 33 times, generating four whiffs on 11 swings. But the impressive feat was Cannon catching Angels hitters watching 11 strikes called off the sinker. Despite the sinker being in the strike zone 58% of the time, the Angels batters only swung at 42% against sinkers in the zone.
Tonight's win gives the White Sox three straight, which ties their second longest winning streak of the season. Last time they accomplished this feat was on June 27 to June 29 against Atlanta and Colorado. If the White Sox win again on Tuesday night, it will match the longest winning streak of the season and will be their second road series victory of 2024.
Game Notes
- Chicago White Sox are now 8-26 with Grady Sizemore as interim manager. The .235 winning percentage is just four points below Pedro Grifol's in 2024 (.239).
- Andrew Benintendi went 2-for-3 with 2 HR 4 RBI and 2 BB. In his last 30 games, Benintendi has a .878 OPS.
- Andrew Vaughn went 2-for-4 with HR 2 RBI and a BB. His season OPS increases to .711.
- Justin Anderson pitched a clean ninth inning with two strikeouts. Take that, Jim.
