White Sox win 3rd straight behind Robert's 470-foot (!) homer
CHICAGO -- Luis Robert Jr. homered during an 11-3 victory for the White Sox over the Rockies on Saturday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field, extending the South Siders’ winning streak to three straight.
That sort of production is nothing new for the All-Star center fielder, even with his game-tying drive off Colorado starter Cal Quantrill (6-6) covering a Statcast-projected 470 feet on the first pitch in the bottom of the sixth. Robert Jr. has 83 homers over his stellar career, and since returning from the injured list on June 4, seven of his 17 hits have cleared the fences.
Home runs from Lenyn Sosa, Robert, Paul DeJong and Korey Lee helped the White Sox (24-61) rally from a 3-0 deficit, their season-high 11 unanswered runs leading them to at least three consecutive wins for just the third time this season. The White Sox ended an 0-11-1 stretch in multi-game series by grabbing the first two in this Interleague competition.
“This is what we have been missing for the whole year, consistency,” said Robert Jr. through interpreter Billy Russo. “Sometimes, the offense has been there. Some games the pitching has been there. Then, we haven’t been consistent. Hopefully, this is a good sign for us.”
“We put some balls in the seats and that’s what it’s all about,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “Good pitching, good defense and we put the ball in the seats.”
But the rookie right-hander yielded eight runs (five earned) in one inning during a loss to the Tigers last Sunday, so he had a week to adjust. The sinkerballer finished with seven flyball outs, but struck out three and walked one before giving way to Tanner Banks (2-2).
“Obviously, I didn’t take too much from what happened last week,” Cannon said. “I tried to put it behind me and focus on this week.
“I was proud of the way I was able to kind of battle through some adversity today, not having my best pitch and still being able to go out there and give our team a chance to win. It was a long six days in between, but I was excited to get back out there and get back on the right track.”
A path to that right track was supported by a White Sox offense scoring five runs in back-to-back games for the first time since June 15-16 at Arizona. Sosa homered to right-center off Quantrill with two outs in the fifth, cutting the lead to one, and after the game-tying connection from Robert Jr., Paul DeJong’s two-run shot gave the White Sox the lead.
DeJong has a team-high 15 home runs, and the White Sox tied a season high with four home runs. Lee’s three-run shot in the eighth capped off a season-best six-run inning.
“As a team, it felt good to have a game like today,” said Sosa through Russo. “For me, specifically, it was good because I’ve been struggling with my offense. It felt even better when I saw all my teammates in the dugout cheering me on.”
“Offense was great. Not too much I can say about that,” a smiling Cannon said. “Just a terrific job all around. Balls flying all over the place, and it was really fun to watch.”
Having Robert Jr. back in the lineup full time makes a huge difference after he missed two months due to a right hip flexor strain. It’s a huge difference offensively and defensively, with Robert Jr. making a diving catch in left-center to take extra bases from Ryan McMahon leading off the second.
How much longer will Robert Jr. be doing that work for the White Sox, as trade rumors continue to swirl? He’s concerned with his team winning three straight for the first time since May 8-11, when they won a season-high four in a row.
He’s enjoying the fifth-longest homer in Major League Baseball this season and the fifth-longest blast in White Sox history during the Statcast era, as opposed to anything outside the clubhouse.
“That’s not in my hands,” Robert Jr. said. “I’m going to do my best wherever I have to play, wherever I’ll be.”
“When the game is on the line and you're facing their best in the back end of the pen, he performs,” Grifol said. “That's the mark of a superstar.”