Red-hot Robert rockets another home run in Monday's wild loss in Anaheim
Luis Robert Jr. already had himself quite a week.
On Monday, the White Sox's center fielder got started on another one.
Robert homered in his first at-bat in Monday night's late game against Los Angeles at Angel Stadium.
Unfortunately for the Sox, another Robert blast was the extent of the offense in a 2-1 loss to the Angels.
Los Angeles star Shohei Ohtani tied the game with a home run off White Sox starter Dylan Cease in the fourth inning and the bullpen blew it in the ninth.
Reynaldo Lopez walked Mike Trout leading off the ninth inning and Aaron Bummer came on to replace him.
Bummer walked Ohtani and the dangerous duo pulled off a double steal on a near wild pitch. Trout scored the winning run on an actual wild pitch.
"That ninth inning gets magnified, but one run is not going to cut it," manager Pedro Grifol told reporters. "That's just the way it is in this league."
Cease had a brilliant outing, allowing 1 run on 5 hits over 6 innings. He had 10 strikeouts and didn't issue a walk.
For Robert, his early home run was his third in four at-bats.
Before the game, Robert was voted AL Player of the Week for June 19-25. In winning the honor for the first time, the 25-year-old outfielder slashed .444/.524/1.111 with 4 home runs, 5 RBI and 6 runs scored.
During a rough first half of the season for the Sox (34-46), Robert has taken his game to another level.
The talent was always there, but health has been an issue.
After missing almost four months of the 2021 season with a hip injury, Robert was on the injured list three times last year. He sprained his left wrist in mid-August and was not a factor the rest of the season.
"Due to the injuries, I couldn't play as many games as I wanted to and unfortunately, that has been the case the last couple years," Robert said during spring training. "But I think in the time I spent on the field, I had good results, had good stats."
The stats are off the charts this year. Robert is one of only five players in franchise history to have 20 or more home runs and doubles before the all-star break. He joins Frank Thomas, Jose Abreu, Jermaine Dye and Magglio Ordonez in the 20/20 club.
He's also the first White Sox position player to be named AL Player of the Week since Abreu (May 24-30, 2021).
Preparing earlier than usual this season so he could appear in the World Baseball Classic for his native Cuba, Robert has played 77 of the Sox's first 80 games.
Last year, Robert appeared in only 98 games and hit .284 with 12 home runs and 56 RBI.
"When you see my stats, they're good, but not good enough because I haven't been able to stay on the field consistently," Robert said. "But once I'm able to play 140-plus games, I think those stats are going to be better, we're going to see what I'm really capable of on the field."
Star search:
High Class A Winston-Salem starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon will represent the White Sox in the MLB Futures Games July 8 at Seattle.
Cannon is 5-1 with a 3.27 ERA and 63 strikeouts over 66 innings in 12 starts for Winston-Salem.
The 6-foot-6 righty was the Sox's third-round draft pick last year out of Georgia.
Sox brace for Ohtani:
Two-way Angels star Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to start against the White Sox Tuesday night.
Ohtani is 6-3 with a 3.13 ERA in 15 starts this season. The right-hander leads the majors with a .179 opponent batting average and has 117 strikeouts in 89 innings.
In 2 career starts vs. the Sox, Ohtani is 1-0 with a 0.87 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 10⅓ innings.
Roster move:
Before Monday night's game against the Angels, the White Sox recalled outfielder Adam Haseley from Class AAA Charlotte and optioned infielder Jose Rodríguez to AA Birmingham.