White Sox end skid as 'a unit,' thinking of La Russa

CHICAGO -- Win one for Tony. Or how about win a bunch?

That slogan hasn’t yet been officially adopted by the White Sox while manager Tony La Russa is away indefinitely, undergoing medical tests in Arizona as ordered by his personal physicians.

But as much as La Russa invests in every game, the team and acting manager Miguel Cairo understand these games have additional healing powers.

In fact, the club's 4-2 victory over Kansas City on Wednesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field was especially important in terms of keeping alive Chicago's sagging postseason hopes.

• 'We love him': La Russa away from club indefinitely amid medical tests

"Obviously, everybody is a little down when you lose your manager," said starter Lance Lynn of La Russa’s absence. "You hope that everything is good and everything checks out good. He has some stuff he has to take care of, and we have to do our part to stay in this race."

"He's a person who means a lot, especially, an amazing manager his whole career," White Sox shortstop Elvis Andrus said. "I've just been playing for two weeks for him, and you can see why everybody loves him. It is a good game for us to go out there and compete and do it for him, knowing that every time we play good, he's going to feel a lot better."

Writers and fans alike have been waiting since Andrus joined the White Sox to use the following line, but Elvis left the building for the first time in a White Sox uniform. His 430-foot drive off Royals starter Kris Bubic in the fifth inning came after after Andrus missed on a hit-and-run attempt, resulting in Romy Gonzalez being thrown out easily trying to swipe second.

Andrus’ blast was part of the offensive support behind Lynn (4-5), who allowed one run over seven innings, logging 91 pitches and striking out eight. Lynn retired the first 10 Royals he faced before rookie phenom Bobby Witt Jr. went deep with one out in the fourth. The Royals loaded the bases in that same frame, and Hunter Dozier worked the count to 3-1 before grounding into an inning-ending double play.

Lynn returned from the bereavement list to extend his run of quality mound work. Since July 16, a span covering nine starts and 53 1/3 innings, Lynn has struck out 62 and walked just four.

"Tonight was a good team win," Lynn said. "That’s what we need to do. Went on a skid there, so it was good to get a win. Hopefully we can build on it."

"He was attacking the strike zone. He pitched unbelievable," Cairo said. "He went over there and made some pitches. He was the man of the game."

Tuesday’s contest, which also featured an AJ Pollock home run, José Abreu's run-scoring single during a two-run seventh and Liam Hendriks’ 29th save, marked the first win this year for Cairo as acting manager. He also was the winner during the White Sox thrilling "stalk-off" victory over the Yankees in last season's Field of Dreams Game.

Prior to the game, Cairo mentioned a day-by-day focus on his new responsibilities in La Russa's absence -- as well as how he’s keeping in contact with the manager. He planned to talk to La Russa on Thursday morning after the victory, but also felt a little more at ease at the helm nonetheless.

"I’m always going to be prepared," Cairo said. "Sometimes you go with your gut and make some moves you've got to make.

"Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't go your way. But we’ve got such a good group of coaches in there, they’re going to help me. They helped me yesterday and today. This is about being together, a unit, and we've got to do this for Tony, too."

Cairo’s crew won for the first time in a week, snapping a five-game losing streak and a six-game skid at home. The White Sox improved to 64-66, regaining ground on both the American League Central-leading Guardians and the second-place Twins following this recent 2-10 stretch. The White Sox are now five games behind Cleveland and 3 1/2 behind the Twins, with a goal of being even closer by the time they hope La Russa returns.

"It's been probably the most talented team I've been on in my career," Andrus said. "When you have this much talent, it only takes a nice winning streak to get back in the race.

"Everybody knows that we've still got 30 more games, so there's no reason to panic. But it's a great time to stay together and go out there and do our thing."