White Sox hit 5 home runs, gain important ground in 8-2 win over Guardians

If they hope to live up to preseason expectations and win the AL Central for the second straight year, the White Sox need to play near perfect baseball the rest of the way.

Thursday afternoon was a good start.

In a makeup game at Cleveland with a must-win feel, the Sox flipped the power switch early and pounded the Guardians 8-2.

While cutting first-place Cleveland's lead to 3 games in the AL Central, the White Sox's offense jumped on Hunter Gaddis, who was called up from Class AAA Columbus to make the start.

In his second major-league appearance, Gaddis gave up 5 home runs in 5 innings.

Gavin Sheets, Andrew Vaughn, Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal and Elvis Andrus all went deep for the Sox, who snapped the Guardians' six-game winning streak.

"I think it's a must win," said Sheets, who started the homer surge with a 2-run shot in the second inning. "Everything right now is a must win and obviously against them, it's even better. It was a big game for us, we wanted to come out and swing the bats early and get Lance (Lynn) the lead.

"Lance threw the ball extremely well. Big win for us."

Lynn pitched 6⅓ innings and allowed 2 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk. The right-hander also had 6 strikeouts.

Acting manager Miguel Cairo was happy to see the White Sox's offense perk up after Wednesday's 3-0 loss to the Rockies at Guaranteed Rate Field. The Sox were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position vs. Colorado.

"It was a big one," Cairo told reporters. "You see this is who we are. We got good at-bats, we were aggressive and we hit a couple of homers. It's good to see the guys come back from (Wednesday) and put some big numbers up there."

The White Sox open a three-game series at Detroit Friday night while the Guardians host the Twins for a five-game set over four days.

With so many games coming up for Cleveland, Gaddis was thrown into a tough spot and the Sox overwhelmed the rookie.

"The pitches he really got hurt on, all of them were elevated, caught too much of the plate," Guardians manager Terry Francona said. "Guys learn quickly when they're here some of the mistakes go further and guys don't leave the zone as much. It's a learning process."

Next week, the Sox host Cleveland in a three-game series that opens Tuesday night.

"We have to keep focused and keep the momentum going," said Moncada, who was 4-for-5 with a solo homer. "That's going to be important."