White Sox 6, A’s 2 — Apparently, home runs win games!

It was business as usual at Guaranteed Rate Field, as Mike Monaco had read a very basic statement from the White Sox, and the game started without a hitch.

Touki Toussaint started for the Pale Hose — and ended up with a great outing. He only allowed two hits through five innings, with three walks and four strikeouts. His pitch count was high (94), but all is forgiven when you keep the opposing team scoreless.

His counterpart J.P. Sears, on the other hand, didn’t have a great night. Sears allowed nine hits in 5 2⁄3 innings, which resulted in six earned runs, all but one crossing the plate on one of his three homers allowed. Sears’ walk rate was low at just two, and he was able to fan eight through 98 pitches.

The Good Guys kicked things off early and often, with six runs before the sixth inning. Luis Robert Jr. doubled in the first after Sox hitters started off with two strikeouts. After help from a wild pitch and a base hit from Eloy Jiménez, Robert crossed the plate to put the White Sox up, 1-0.

Beloved rookie Lenyn Sosa crushed the ball to left on a sweeper pitch for a solo home run with two outs in the second, doubling the lead.

Sears would live to regret letting Tim Anderson on, because after an intentional walk to Jiménez to get to Yoán Moncada, Yoyo blasted a ball to left field for a three-run homer.

It didn’t end there, as Andrew Benintendi went opposite field for a lefty-on-lefty home run, his fifth of the season, putting the Sox up, 6-0, in the fifth. Soon after, Robert slapped his second double of the game.

Bryan Shaw, our everyday relief pitcher, took the mound in the sixth. He immediately walked two, but the A’s were unable to capitalize on Shaw’s offerings. Jimmy Lambert kept it clean in the seventh, but Sammy Peralta gave a couple of free passes in the eighth that resulted in a run. Peralta was pulled at 18 pitches with two on for Aaron Bummer — and what once felt like a winnable game seemed to slowly unravel.

Bummer gave up a base hit to Jonah Bride with two outs, bringing up Brent Rooker. Thankfully, the damage was minimal after fanning Nick Allen. Back out in the ninth, Bummer kept the A’s quiet to pull off a much-needed win.

Six Pack of Stats

FanGraphs

Pressure Play
Seth Brown’s fly out to center earned a 1.80 LI in what could have been a pivotal moment for the A’s in the top of the third, down two with two on and two outs.

Pressure Cooker
Brown had a chance to turn the game around early. Instead, he faced quite a bit of pressure without a single hit in the game, under a 0.82 pLI.

Top Play
Yoán Moncada’s beautiful three-run homer landed a 15.8% WPA and was exactly what was needed for the White Sox to finally win a game.

Top Performer
While the home runs were fun, only one player walked away with a 19.9% WPA: Touki Toussaint shut down the A’s in one of his best performances in a White Sox uniform.

Hardest Hit
Luis Robert Jr.’s first-inning double was launched at 111.8 mph.

Weakest Contact
Esteury Ruiz’s grounder against Aaron Bummer in the ninth was lightly tapped at 50.2 mph.

Luckiest Hit
Tim Anderson’s bloop double looked like a routine catch, but it couldn’t be snatched despite an xBA of just .120.

Toughest Out
Shea Langeliers has been a thorn in everyone’s side for the first two games, but was mostly silenced tonight. His fly out in the seventh was unexpected, sitting at a .610 xBA.

Longest Hit
Yoán Moncada knocked the ball 409 feet for his third-inning, three-run homer.

Magic Number: 2
Lenyn Sosa went back-to-back with a home run last night and tonight.