White Sox 13, Twins 8: That Ball’s a Vaughner!

Andrew Vaughn blasts his first major league home run in tonight’s romp over Minnesota

It was a wild night on the South Side.

The White Sox continued their red hot offense tonight, defeating J.A. Happ and the Minnesota Twins, 13-8. The Sox had a night filled with bleeps, bloops, and blasts, collecting 14 hits, four walks, and continued dominance against left-handed pitching.

There were many memorable moments from tonight’s game, like Billy Hamilton going collecting four hits and José “Wheels” Abreu pumping out a triple — but the best of all belonged to left fielder Andrew Vaughn, who belted his first major league home run in the bottom of the fourth inning.

With one on and no outs, Vaughn blasted a J.A. Happ slider deep into the left-center field bleachers. Vaughn has one of the team's highest hard-hit rates, so a home run was absolutely expected, sooner than later. Hopefully, this is the first of many ... this season and every season from here on out!

Nearly every White Sox starter recorded at least one hit, with Tim Anderson, Yoán Moncada, and José Abreu all collecting two. Danny Mendick was the lone batter with no hits in three at-bats.

Minnesota’s offense was almost equally as potent. The Twins offense collected 13 hits and three walks, but could only bring eight runs across home plate. That’s right, “only. eight runs.” They were no match for the White Sox and their 13-run brawn.

On the pitching side, Dallas Keuchel’s performance was far from what it was last week against the Cincinnati Reds. Even though he was the winning pitcher on record, his pitch location was inconsistent throughout the game and the movement wasn’t all there. He was able to get the occasional double play at the appropriate times, but had the White Sox not blasted off on Happ, the team would be looking at a loss. Keuchel went 5 ²⁄₃ innings, giving up eight hits, six earned runs, one walk, and tallying one strikeout. Evan Marshall, Codi Heuer, José Ruiz, and Liam Hendriks held down the fort, allowing only earned run credited to Marshall — he must have been thinking about his new business management degree from Kansas State University!

The White Sox hold onto the first place spot in the American League Central by a game over Cleveland, and remain the best team in the league. With the league's best offense and pitching, it’s clear the White Sox have the ability to make it far into the postseason. When the pitching is down, the offense is up ... and vice versa.

Tomorrow's game starts at 1:10 pm CT. Lance Lynn goes for the White Sox sweep and Michael Pineda aims to throw down some dirt for the Twins. White Sox recap is currently TBA, with the Six Pack in the hands of Jeremy Karll.