White Sox back another solid Lynn start with 4 solo HRs
Andrew Vaughn started hitting for power in late May, and the trend figures to continue for the White Sox's rookie left fielder as the summer continues to warm.
Before Thursday night's game against the Tigers at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Sox placed Vaughn on the injured list and recalled infielder/outfielder Gavin Sheets from Class AAA Charlotte.
"In compliance with MLB's existing COVID-19 protocols, Andrew Vaughn has been placed on the injured list," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said in a statement. "Andrew is currently asymptomatic and our hope is that, similar to our other IL placements of this nature, he will return shortly to the active roster. At this time, no other players on the roster are impacted."
The Sox reached the 85% vaccination threshold for tiered players and staff three weeks ago, so the hope is Vaughn clears protocol and is back in the lineup this weekend.
"I feel good that Andrew will be back soon," manager Tony La Russa said. "I think there have been a couple of tests where he's negative, so we're optimistic that whatever test he has left to take, it's a temporary thing."
Missing Vaughn's bat didn't slow the White Sox in a 4-1 win over Detroit.
Hitting a season-high 4 home runs - all solo shots - the Sox improved their record to 21-9 at home, tops in the American League.
Yoan Moncada got the barrage going in the first inning against Casey Mize, and Jake Lamb and Yasmani Grandal also homered off the Tigers' top starter.
In the eighth, Tim Anderson closed out the scoring with a solo shot off reliever Daniel Norris.
The Sox are lagging near the bottom of the league in home runs as they obviously feel the absence of Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert, but Lamb has been showing why he hit a combined 59 homer with the Diamondbacks in 2016-17.
The left-hander has gone deep four times in his last 10 games.
"His play here since he got on our roster has been really infrequent and the way he didn't complain and the way he's worked, and made the most out of the games has shown our club his commitment," La Russa said. "He walks around with a lot of respect and all of a sudden he starts doing damage."
White Sox starter Lance Lynn continued doing damage on opposing hitters, limiting Detroit to 1 run on 4 hits and 2 walks over 6 innings.
"We know he's going to battle," said Grandal, who was behind the plate for Lynn. "We know he's going to be out there going at guys, trying to induce early contact, trying to get as deep into the game as possible.
"That's refreshing. That's what you want from your starters, you want them to pound the strike zone and attack as much as they can. It seems like he's done a great job of it."
Over his last 7 starts, Lynn is 6-0 with a 1.38 ERA.
"I threw the ball well, really," said Lynn, who had 6 strikeouts while throwing 89 pitches. "They were trying to get after some things and I was able to mix some things in I haven't had to up to this point of the year. They were where they needed to be and I was able to get outs getting swings and misses."