White Sox 10, Athletics 2: Is this what a good team does?

Good teams beat bad teams, right? Well, the White Sox did just that once again, against Oakland today. And it was another bloodbath for the White Sox offense, with 10 runs on 20 hits.

The pitching wasn’t too shabby, either, with Lance Lynn going six innings with five strikeouts and two unearned runs. Lynn also had 21 swinging strikes, his third-most on the season and only one fewer than last time out. Lynn has been lights-out recently and has only given up one earned run in his last three starts (albeit with five unearned) and seems to be assuring himself at least of that No. 3 spot in the rotation should this team make the playoffs.

Elvis Andrus is proving himself to be the midseason pickup the team really needed as well, as on this west coast trip he’s 9-for-27 now, with three home runs, nine RBIs, and two doubles. His defense has been great as well, with many wondering where Tim Anderson fits back into the picture when he comes off of his IL stint.

The scoring got started early in the second inning, with an RBI single from Yasmani Grandal leading to Elvis Andrus continuing his revenge on the A’s by hitting a three-run homer to make it 4-0 early.

Every starter but Gavin Sheets had a hit on the day, with the Nos. 6 and 7 hitters, AJ Pollock and Andrew Vaughn, going 4-for-5 on the day. Vaughn also had two RBIs with a double in the fourth that increased the White Sox lead to 7-0.

Things weren’t all so hunky-dory for the Sox, more specifically Josh Harrison, who went 3-for-4 with a walk, but committed errors in the fourth and sixth innings that ended up leading to both runs the Athletics scored.

Good teams, however, don’t let the mistakes get to them, as the Sox stood strong and scored two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth to arrive at the 10-2 final.

The fourth win for the Sox in a row is also the 10th as acting manager for Miguel Cairo, who after winning the Field of Dreams game last year has come on and righted the ship in 2022, with nine wins in the 12 games since Tony La Russa had to take a break from managing. The run differential in Cairo’s games this season is up to +39, with the Sox now at only -4 on the whole. The Sox seem like a changed ballclub in the last two weeks, and hopefully they can carry that momentum into La Russa’s inevitable return.

The Sox are now 72-68 and currently one game behind Cleveland (although the Guardians are up big in Minnesota at the midway point). Thursday’s makeup game against the Guardians could have huge implications on the division race, and having the momentum to get there could propel the Sox to the division lead. Point blank, whether the Guardians, White Sox or Twins win the AL Central this year, they are going to have to earn it with head-to-head wins in September.

The Sox will go for the four-game sweep in Oakland tomorrow afternoon, with Johnny Cueto on the bump.