The Chicago White Sox, after a heartbreaking loss against the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday, demolished the Kansas City Royals 22-1. Yes, you are reading that right!
This was the first time in 20 years that the White Sox scored 20 or more runs, and the most since 1970. This ties for the second-highest run total in franchise history!
The White Sox now sit alone atop the AL Central.
Let’s go over arthree takeaways from Chicago’s offensive explosion.
The Offense Was Unbelievable
The game looked like it might be a close one after Royals starter Steven Cruz gave up 0 runs in 1.1 innings. However, the game would soon fall apart when Mitch Spence gave up a staggering 10 runs in the third inning, including two home runs to Miguel Vargas and Jacob Gonzalez!
Andrew Benintendi, Kyle Teel, and Tristan Peters would also homer in what was a slaughter. The Royals’ pitching had zero answers for the White Sox hitters. They had 23 hits in 46 at-bats, with Braden Montgomery the only one to go hitless. However, everyone got on base at least once.
The White Sox offense also showed great plate discipline with seven walks and only nine strikeouts. Finally, the stat that fans had been waiting for was that the White Sox were 9-for-20 with runners in scoring position!
This offensive explosion wouldn’t have been complete without Vargas and Peters, who combined for 11 runs driven in. But this game had an even better story than those two players.
Jacob Gonzalez and Chase Meidroth Finally Break Out of Slumps!
The most encouraging part of today’s game was not Vargas breaking out of his slump or even Teel’s first great game of 2026. It was Gonzalez and Meidroth breaking out of their respective slumps.
You could predict that Gonzalez’s slump would end soon. He went 2-for-4 on Wednesday night, despite the loss. But Friday was a whole different beast.
Gonzalez would go 3-for-4 with a walk and five runs driven in, including a grand slam. The young infielder was in a horrible slump before Wednesday, going 0-for-25 before his two hits on Wednesday.
As for Meidroth, he had been struggling, especially with runners in scoring position. However, he put those worries to rest with a 4-for-5 game with a walk.
David Sandlin Stars in Blowout
The offensive explosion doesn’t mean we shouldn’t acknowledge starter David Sandlin’s great game. After being sent down due to giving up 11 runs in his previous 7.1 innings, Sandlin bounced back when he needed to most.
In six innings, Sandlin gave up just three hits and one run, with six strikeouts and three walks. After this start, it’s going to be hard to send him down again, and the White Sox may have to make difficult decisions regarding their rotation.
Saturday’s game likely won’t have as many fireworks as this one, with Michael Wacha and Davis Martin on the mound. But the White Sox are now in a good position to win another big series against a division foe and increase their AL Central lead.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.si.com ’
