Robert's 35th homer highlights power-packed finale
White Sox outfielder is 14th player in club history to reach mark as offense picks up Cease
BALTIMORE -- Luis Robert Jr. crushed his career-high 35th homer and Andrew Vaughn logged three RBIs as the White Sox snapped a two-game skid with a 10-5 win over the Orioles on Wednesday afternoon in the series finale at Camden Yards.
After being held to three runs in the first two games of the series, Chicago erupted for 10 runs on 15 hits, belting out three doubles, a triple and three homers for their third win in five games.
The bottom of the first inning was rocky for White Sox starter Dylan Cease and the defense as the Orioles built a 4-0 lead. Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander led off with consecutive doubles, while Ryan O’Hearn and Adam Frazier added run-scoring singles.
Cease hit Cedric Mullins with a pitch and his defense was unable to run down a popup in foul territory while Frazier stole second base without a throw, providing the first-place Orioles with extra chances to score.
The right-hander settled in after the first, allowing five runs on six hits and three walks to go with seven strikeouts over six innings.
"Cease had a little bit of a rough first one, but great recovery to come back and give us six strong innings,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “[He] got stronger as the game went on [and] made some really good pitches.
"Pretty good game after you take away the first inning. First inning was sloppy. As far as the process is concerned, if you're focused on the outcome, yeah, it was good. We won. But if you focus on the process, there's some things to tighten up."
Grifol alluded to miscommunication and mental mistakes throughout the series. Even after the win, the skipper spoke about how the club still needs to improve the “process.”
"When you go back and look at it, there's some things that we got to clean up,” Grifol said. “[But] I'm not going to get too deep into that. I'm going to reserve those things until I talk to these guys about some of those things.
“But everybody saw the game. There's some things that we got to clean up.”
It was an uncomfortable beginning for Cease (6-7), something he has had to deal with in recent outings. Coming into the finale, Cease was 1-4 with a 7.85 ERA in his previous six starts.
But this time, the White Sox offense provided a lift.
Chicago scored four in the top of the second on two-run homers by Vaughn, his 17th, and Oscar Colás, to tie the game at 4.
The White Sox crushed three homers and two doubles among nine hits off Orioles starter Kyle Gibson, taking a 7-5 lead into the fourth.
"It was huge,” Cease said. “Offense picked me up today and I'm happy I was able to give us a chance after that first.
"The first was just a combination of them putting some good at-bats together [and myself] making some not-so-great pitches. One of those innings that's not ideal, but just let it go and keep battling."
Eloy Jiménez went 4-for-5 with a double and two runs scored, while Tim Anderson tripled and Andrew Benintendi doubled to score three more runs in the sixth. The duo had combined to go 0-for-22 to begin the three-game series.
Robert is the 14th player in White Sox history to reach the 35-homer mark, smacking a solo shot to put Chicago ahead to stay, 5-4, in the third. He later added a single in the eighth.
"Obviously everybody can see the power,” Grifol said. “You know what I see? I see him beat out a base hit, ground ball straight to the third baseman. That's what separates superstars like him."
It is the 24th time in White Sox history a player has reached 35 homers in a season. Hall of Famer Frank Thomas did it seven times. The 35 homers are a club record for a center fielder. Robert ranks second in the American League to Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani (44).
"I was happy to reach that mark today,” Robert said via team interpreter Billy Russo. “That was the most [homers] I have had at any level. I am very happy about that.
“I have been telling you guys this since the start of the season [that] we are a good offensive team. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to do that on a consistent basis, but I think what we showed today is what we can really do."