A barrage of solo home runs proved to be more than enough for the White Sox versus the Reds on Saturday night, as they defeated Cincinnati 5-0 on the road. The Sox hit five home runs, including Mazara’s first, while the pitching was led by Keuchel in his return before he made way to the bullpen in the 5th. Following the win, the Sox are now 33-18 and are 3.5 games ahead of the Twins in the AL Central.
W: Matt Foster (5-0) | L: Trevor Bauer (4-4)
Notable Performances
Tim Anderson: 2-for-5, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
Anderson heated up his MVP race with Jose Abreu after adding two home runs to his season total. In the 5th, he hit a solo shot off likely NL Cy Young Trevor Bauer to make the score 2-0, before then hitting the first of three home runs in a row in the 8th. His average now sits at .366.
Jose Abreu: 2-for-4, HR
Abreu continued to mash in 2020 on Saturday night as he added his 17th homer of the season in the 8th inning to go along with a base hit. As of Saturday, he now trails Voit for the AL Home Run lead by three, and he still sits atop the RBI rankings with 51.
Dallas Keuchel: 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 7 SO
Dallas Keuchel certainly had some rust to knock off in his first start since September 6th. Despite not allowing a run, he allowed seven baserunners in the first three innings. He eventually settled down and tossed a 1-2-3 4th frame. His performance allowed the White Sox to sleep in a bit on offense before their first score came in the 5th.
Moment of the Game
The moment of the game came in the top of the 8th inning for the White Sox, as their 1-2-3 hitters in Anderson, Grandal, Abreu hit back-to-back-back home runs off of Reds reliever Robert Stephenson.
Player of the Game
Keuchel is more than worthy after his four shutout innings and seven strikeouts, but Tim Anderson is the rightful recipient here after his two home run night.
Looking Ahead
The White Sox will wrap up their interleague series with the Reds on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 12:10 PM CT in Cincinnati. Dylan Cease (5-2, 3.20) is the probable starter for the Sox, and Michael Lorenzen (2-1, 4.56) will be toeing the rubber for the Reds.
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Nice win for the team after the disappointing performance on Friday. Bouncing back the next day is characteristic of championship teams. But, still many growing worries for fans about Robert and his woeful at bats. He appears terribly uncomfortable and alarmingly lacking in confidence as he awaits each pitch. He is not driving the ball, complete lack of velocity off the bat, weak swings at balls clearly outside the strike zone, observing and not swinging at balls thrown down the middle of the plate. We have seen that he has the physical tools to be a great hitter but mentally he may be unable to process anxiety and disappointment. I hope he recovers soon and becomes Robert again as we witnessed him in August. The September version has been a total disappointing flop.