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The White Sox offense struck early and often in a series-opening win over Toronto.
Andrew Vaughn led the way with a home run as part of a four-hit night, his third such performance since May 31st. Luis Robert also added a long-ball of his own and a pair of RBI as he continues to scorch the ball. As a whole, the bats managed to push across at least one run in each of the first five innings to hang an eight-spot on the scoreboard. It turns out, that's all they would need to survive the Blue Jays' late surge.
On the bump, Lance Lynn returned to his old self and showed his signature emotion after several inning-ending punchouts. His offspeed pitches kept Toronto's lineup guessing for much of the evening. A blown strike-three call in the sixth opened up the Jays' second wave of scoring, allowing them to bring the game within three.
Reliever Joe Kelly entered in the ninth for the Sox and gave up a two-run homer to Cavan Biggio, shrinking the lead down to one. Luckily, no further damage was done as Kelly earned his first save in a Chicago uniform.
With the win, the White Sox improve to 32-33 and sit 4.5 games back in the AL Central.
W: Lance Lynn (1-0, 5.79 ERA) | L: Jose Berrios (5-3, 5.11 ERA) | S: Joey Kelly (1)
Andrew Vaughn with a little yard work to get us started. Thanks, @BlueJays! pic.twitter.com/7Nl3qswcEq
J-HAY WHADDAYA SAY pic.twitter.com/KQttXlsI3A
Luis Robert to the Dan Ryan ð£pic.twitter.com/NE7rKHv1Ly
Lance Lynn: 5.0+ IP, 4 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR
Lynn's first outing at home was much better than his final line suggests. The right-hander relied on a mix of pitches to keep Tornoto's lineup guessing for much of the game. He managed to tally a total of 14 swinging strikes and several inning-ending strikeouts that brought out his famous expletives.
LANCE LYNN IS ALL THE WAY BACK ð¤ pic.twitter.com/SFUWhhtzDz
Following a blown strike-three call in the sixth, the heart of the Blue Jays' order struck for three runs and knocked Lynn out of the game. He finished having thrown 60 of his 99 pitches for strikes.
Bruhhh pic.twitter.com/rvMcMZ9CqA
Andrew Vaughn: 4-for-4, HR (7), 2B (11), 2 RBI, 2 runs
Vaughn continued to make his case for the All-Star game with yet another multi-hit performance. His perfect night at the dish left him just a triple shy of the cycle while raising his batting average to .330 on the season.
VAUGHN BOMB. Single: â Double: â Triple: Home Run: â pic.twitter.com/zmbDk5cH9M
Luis Robert: 2-for-4, HR (7), 2 RBI, run
Robert stayed hot as he torched a third-inning pitch for his seventh home run of the season. The ball traveled 436 feet at an exit velocity of 113.3 mph, both statistics marking game highs.
I think itâs safe to say Luis Robertâs power is back pic.twitter.com/dZnOw1Xgj2
Josh Harrison: 1-for-4, HR (1), 2 RBI, run
Though it's hard to tell based on the box score, Harrison made a number of great plays on the defensive end. He also added his first home run of the year on offense, proving to all of his haters why he should be a fixture of this team for the foreseeable future.
Josh Harrison is here to stay ð± pic.twitter.com/YN3rlfk4P9
The White Sox will look to take the series from the Blue Jays when they square off again tomorrow evening. Dylan Cease is set to face right-hander Kevin Gausman.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM CT and can be viewed on NBC Sports Chicago.
Editor's Note: "White Sox 8, Blue Jays 7: Offense muscles three homers in win" originally appeared on Sox on 35th.
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