White Sox Stat of the Day: July 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the White Sox this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

• White Sox Stat of the Day: June 2021

July 31: Indians 12, White Sox 11 -- Racking up homers
The White Sox have hit 42 home runs in their last 27 games, including five in this loss, with three coming from catcher Seby Zavala. Chicago has homered in 19 games during that stretch and put together 11 multihomer efforts. The White Sox are 50-16 when homering and now 24-3 when hitting multiple homers.

July 30: White Sox 6, Indians 4 -- Moncada gets his knocks
Yoán Moncada did more than launch a home run assisted by a collision between Cleveland outfielders Bradley Zimmer and Daniel Johnson, as the ball bounced out off Zimmer's glove a few feet from the wall and carried over the fence. Moncada knocked out three hits, leaving him 19 shy of 500 for his career. His effort snapped a 4-for-31 funk with two extra-base hits over his last eight games, although Moncada has hit in 11 of 15 second-half games. All nine of his homers have come at home -- eight as a left-handed hitter.

July 29: Royals 5, White Sox 0 -- Sox fail to get offensive
The White Sox managed just five hits in the loss, but that output -- even without José Abreu, Tim Anderson and Eloy Jiménez -on Thursday afternoon -- has been the rule more than the exception of late. The offense has produced 17 runs in the past eight games (2-6 record), while hitting below .200 as a team during that stretch. Chicago also was shut out for the sixth time in 2021, and the first time since May 26 vs. St. Louis, snapping a streak of 54 games without a shutout that represented the longest active run in the Majors.

July 28: Royals 3, White Sox 2 (10 innings) -- Perez takes Hendriks deep
Liam Hendriks trusts his fastball against pretty much anyone. He said as much after the Royals' victory in 10 innings. But even though the White Sox closer has been dominant throughout his first season in Chicago, he has been touched up for eight home runs while allowing 15 runs (two unearned) over 45 1/3 innings all season. Salvador Perez connected with one out in the ninth against Hendriks, producing his fifth blown save, and the 438 foot drive by Perez also was the longest one yielded by Hendriks since Statcast began tracking in 2015.

July 27: White Sox 5, Royals 3 -- Sheets continues torrid stretch
Gavin Sheets' home run might be a bit overlooked, with Eloy Jiménez's three-run game-winning shot in the eighth getting much of the attention. But the Statcast-estimated 429-foot blast from Sheets in the fourth represented the first and only run scored off Royals starter Brad Keller and it was Sheets' 15th hit in 21 career games. Ten of those hits have gone for extra bases, including six for homers. It was Sheets' first long ball since a walk-off blast against José Berríos during Game 2 of a doubleheader on July 19 against the Twins.

July 26: Royals 4, White Sox 3 -- Vaughn heating up
Andrew Vaughn extended his hitting streak to a modest six games with a two-run single to right in the sixth inning. He has a .476 average with five RBIs during that run, but Vaughn's bat had been heating up before this past week. Since batting .222 (44-for-198) through his first 63 games, he’s batting .346 (28-for-81) in his last 23. Vaughn also has 14 RBIs in his last 22 games.

July 25: White Sox 3, Brewers 1 -- Lynn's dominance vs. Crew
Lance Lynn earned his 10th win of the season with six innings of one-run ball. In 21 career games against the Brewers, the right-hander is 11-3 with a 2.16 ERA, including going 5-0 with a 0.59 ERA over his past five starts against them. He is 7-2 with a 2.29 ERA in 11 career games at American Family Field.

July 24: Brewers 6, White Sox 1 -- Rodón strikes out five
Carlos Rodón struck out five batters, tying his season low from May 15 against the Royals. That snapped his streak of 10 straight games of at least eight strikeouts.

July 23: Brewers 7, White Sox 1 -- Vaughn's one-man army effort
Andrew Vaughn was the lone offensive bright spot on an otherwise quiet night for the White Sox, accounting for three of the team’s five hits, including his 11th home run of the season -- a solo shot in the eighth off Brewers right-hander Hunter Strickland. Over his last 20 games, Vaughn is batting 348/.373/.638 with five home runs and 12 RBIs.

July 21: Twins 7, White Sox 2 -- Hamilton has Twins' number
Billy Hamilton was one of the many heroes of Tuesday's 9-5 comeback win over the Twins, driving in the go-ahead run with a single to left in the bottom of the eighth. He picked up two more hits in Wednesday's 7-2 loss to Minnesota, giving him 12 hits overall against the Twins this season (across 15 games and 5 starts), and 11 hits against everybody else. Hamilton has not played in double-digit games against any of those other 11 clubs, with eight against the Tigers serving as his next highest total.

July 20: White Sox 9, Twins 5 -- Kopech's streak ends
Michael Kopech entered with 12 straight batters retired over four outings, dating back to a leadoff single he gave up to Miguel Sanó on July 6. That streak came to an end when Josh Donaldson connected for a 435 foot home run leading off the sixth, but it didn't slow down Kopech for long. He struck out the side in the sixth, giving him 10 strikeouts over his last four innings, and did not allow a run in the seventh.

July 19: Twins 3, White Sox 2 (G1); White Sox 5, Twins 3 (G2) -- Abreu's big doubleheader
José Abreu made history on a couple of different fronts during Monday's doubleheader against the Twins. He homered against José Berrios in the bottom of the first in Game 2, giving him 17 for the season. But more importantly, the home run was No. 215 with the White Sox and moved him into sole possession of fourth place on the franchise all-time home run list. He was tied with Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk and now trails Harold Baines (221 homers) for third. Abreu's two RBIs on the day also moved him past Robin Ventura for eighth on the franchise's all-time RBI list.

July 18: White Sox 4, Astros 0 -- Rodón enters the K Zone
Carlos Rodón set a new franchise record for most consecutive starts (10) with eight or more strikeouts with his 10-strikeout performance. Rodón was previously tied with Juan Pizarro for the longest such streak in club history, with Pizarro recording eight or more strikeouts in nine straight starts from Aug. 5 to Sept. 10, 1951. Rodón's streak of starts with eight or more strikeouts is the longest in MLB this season, having two more than Cleveland's Shane Bieber.

July 17: White Sox 10, Astros 1 -- Anderson ties club record Tim Anderson extended his hitting streak to 14 games in the victory, leaving him one short of matching a career high. He also extended his runs-scored streak to 10 games, matching a franchise record for most consecutive games with a hit and a run scored. Anderson did both in style by going deep in the third inning off Astros starter Jake Odorizzi. It was Anderson's seventh home run of the season, but it also ended a personal long-ball drought, covering 146 plate appearances and dating back to June 3 vs. Detroit.

July 16: Astros 7, White Sox 1 -- Hits, runs all the rage for Tim
Tim Anderson opened the second half of the 2021 season with a triple to left on the first pitch from Lance McCullers Jr., extending the White Sox shortstop's hitting streak to a season-high 13 straight games. Anderson scored one pitch later when Yoán Moncada doubled him home, extending Anderson's career-best streak with at least one run scored to nine straight games. Anderson has scored 14 runs during that stretch and has a .397 average during his hitting streak.

July 11: White Sox 7, Orioles 5 (10 innings) -- Sweep!
With a win on Sunday, Chicago not only swept Baltimore in a three-game series to close out the first half of the season, but it also recorded a season series sweep. Per the organization, it is the first time in franchise history that the Sox swept a team in seven games or more over the course of a season.

July 10: White Sox 8, Orioles 3 -- Goodwin keeps getting on base
Brian Goodwin extended his career-high on-base streak to 14 games after recording four hits in the win at Camden Yards on Saturday. The four hits -- a home run and three singles -- tie a single-game career high, which he has done twice before in the big leagues, most recently on May 15, 2019.

July 9: White Sox 12, Orioles 1 -- Six in a row vs. O's
With a win in Friday's series opener, the White Sox have now won six straight against the Orioles. The last time Chicago had a six-game winning streak vs. Baltimore was Aug. 25-Sept. 2, 1998. The win also marks the second season-series win since 2009 -- the White Sox went 4-3 vs. Baltimore in 2018.

July 7: White Sox 6, Twins 1 -- Anderson has Pineda's number
Tim Anderson is an All-Star-caliber player who already has one batting title on his resume. But he reaches another elite level offensively when facing Michael Pineda. Anderson went 3-for-3 against the Twins' right-hander during Wednesday's victory for the White Sox, making him 12-for-18 lifetime against Pineda with two doubles, three home runs and six RBIs. Anderson finished the series finale 4-for-4 with a walk, matching a career high in hits for the 12th time in his career and the first time since Sept. 12, 2020, vs. Detroit.

July 6: White Sox 4, Twins 1 -- Hendriks works overtime
All-Star reliever Liam Hendriks did something he hasn't been accustomed to over the course of his stellar career as a closer: pick up a two-inning save. In fact, his two scoreless innings to protect a three-run lead marked Hendriks' first career two-inning save. The right-hander, who struck out four, made his first two-inning appearance this season in his first game since July 1 and his first two-inning appearance since July 3, 2019.

July 5: Twins 8, White Sox 5 -- Struggling at the start
The White Sox rotation has been the driving force behind the team's rise to the top of the American League Central, even in the face of numerous key injuries. But that group has struggled a bit recently on this road trip. In Monday's loss to the Twins, Dylan Cease struck out eight, but he allowed six runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings. That effort came after Dallas Keuchel gave up seven runs on seven hits over four-plus innings against the Tigers Saturday and Lucas Giolito was touched up for six runs on 10 hits over five innings Sunday in Detroit.

July 4: Tigers 6, White Sox 5 -- Abreu's late strikes
When you are as prolific at driving in runs as José Abreu, you tend to record a few big late-game hits. That situation played out on Sunday, when the White Sox first baseman launched a three-run blast off Gregory Soto with one out in the ninth. It was Abreu's first home run of the season in the ninth inning or later, and the second of his career against the Tigers. It was the 16th of his career in that situation.

July 3: Tigers 11, White Sox 5 -- Abreu's July off to a good start
José Abreu had a rare subpar month with the bat during June, featuring a slash line of .182/.265/.307 to go with two home runs and eight RBIs. In fairness to the White Sox leader and reigning AL Most Valuable Player, Abreu has been beaten up physically on the field in a number of different ways this season, but he still continues to drive in runs overall. He has three RBIs in three July contests, including two on Saturday. Abreu has 57 RBIs in total this season and has led the AL in RBIs the last two seasons with 117 since the start of the 2020 season, and 240 since the start of 2019.

July 2: White Sox 8, Tigers 2 -- Sheets leaving his mark
Gavin Sheets' arrival with the White Sox from Triple-A Charlotte makes an outfield upgrade look like less of a necessity for the American League Central leaders. The left-handed-hitting rookie launched a three-run homer in the ninth to become the first White Sox player with a hit and an RBI in each of his first four career games. Sheets is hitting .400 with two home runs and eight RBIs.

July 1: White Sox 8, Twins 5 -- Division dominance
What's the best way to win your division in Major League Baseball? Well, it's consistently beating the other teams in said division, and the White Sox have achieved that this season vs. the American League Central. Their victory over the Twins Thursday marked their seventh straight AL Central win and gave them nine "W's" in their last 10 games within the division. They are 27-12 overall against the AL Central, and they recorded their second home series sweep against the Twins (the first was May 11-13 at Guaranteed Rate Field). The last time Chicago swept Minnesota in back-to-back home series was May 24-25, 1994 (two games) and May 8-10, 1995 (three games).