White Sox overcome Ohtani's team-record 14th homer in June to beat Angels 9-7
Eloy Jiménez and Zach Remillard had two-run singles in the third inning and the Chicago White Sox beat Los Angeles 9-7 on Thursday, overcoming Shohei Ohtani's Angels-record 14th homer in June.
The Japanese superstar broke the team mark for home runs in a month in the ninth inning with a two-run shot to left-center off Kendall Graveman's slider. Ohtani leads the majors with 29 homers and is batting .309.
Mickey Moniak, Mike Moustakis and Hunter Renfroe also homered for Los Angeles. The Angels were 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
Mike Trout added three hits and made a leaping catch at the center field wall in the fourth inning to rob Andrew Vaughn of a solo shot.
The White Sox rallied to split the four-game series. They trailed 4-1 before scoring six runs off Patrick Sandoval (4-7) in the third inning. It is the fourth time this season Chicago has plated at least six in an inning.
Yasmani Grandal and Clint Frazier also had RBI hits in the third.
Lance Lynn (5-8) got his first win since May 26. The right-hander allowed five runs on eight hits and struck out seven in six innings.
After Tim Anderson scored on a wild pitch by Sandoval in the top of the first, Moniak evened it with his AL-leading fourth leadoff homer of the season, a solo shot to right off Lynn's fastball.
The Angels extended their lead via the long ball to 4-1 in the second. Moustakis led off the inning with a drive to right field for his first homer with the Angels. The infielder and Southern California native was acquired from the Colorado Rockies on Saturday.
Matt Thaiss followed with a single before Hunter Renfroe had a two-run homer down the left-field line.
Chicago got a pair of insurance runs in the ninth to put it out of reach. Andrew Vaughn had an RBI triple and scored on Jacob Webb's wild pitch.
BEING TAKEN DEEP
Lynn leads big-league starting pitchers with 22 home runs allowed. He is the fourth White Sox pitcher in team history to allow at least that many before the All-Star Game, joining Floyd Bannister (25 in 1987), Reynaldo Lopez (23 in 2019) and James Baldwin (23 in 1999).
TRAINER'S ROOM
White Sox: LF and leadoff hitter Andrew Benintendi had a planned day off.
Angels: 3B Anthony Rendon (left wrist contusion) fielded ground balls before the game.
UP NEXT
White Sox: Continue their road trip at Oakland on Friday. The starting pitcher has not been determined.
Angels: Host Arizona for a weekend series. RHP Griffin Canning (6-2, 3.99 ERA) is 4-0 in his last six starts.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports