White Sox swat 6 homers, rout Rockies 15-3

In one game Tuesday night, the White Sox took care of two pesky problems.

While they showed some serious power potential with 6 home runs in three games opening the season at U.S. Cellular Field against the Twins last week, the Sox failed to clear even one fence in their first four road games, the first three at Kansas City and at Colorado Monday night.

That changed, in resounding fashion.

In their 15-3 win over the Rockies Tuesday night at Coors Field, the White Sox hit 6 home runs for the first time in a single game since June 24, 2009, against the Dodgers.

The Sox also piled up 19 hits, raising their team batting average from .263 to .290.

Before the game, manager Robin Ventura showed no concern over the White Sox' recent power outage, or even mini-slumps from key contributors like Avisail Garcia and Jose Abreu.

"A lot of our guys might not be getting hits, but you see a lot of pitches, foul some stuff off and put it in play hard, that's part of it," Ventura told reporters. "And eventually, it'll come around when you start getting some hits. The approach has been really good to see."

Ventura, new hitting coach Todd Steverson and every Sox fan watching the game had to like what they were seeing Tuesday night.

Garcia got the power show going with a solo home run off Rockies starter Franklin Morales in the second inning. It was Garcia's first homer of the year, and Tyler Flowers added a 2-run shot in the second.

Leading 4-2 in the seventh inning, Abreu broke the game open with his first home run of the year, a 3-run drive to left field.

In the eighth inning, Garcia, Alexei Ramirez and Abreu made the game a complete blowout with home runs against Colorado reliever Wilton Lopez.

While he came into the game with 6 RBI in his first seven games with the Sox, Abreu was riding an 0-for-10 slump. Ventura was asked if the new first baseman needed a day off.

"I don't look at it like he has to have two days off a week," Ventura said. "He wants to play. He's a mature kid. He's willing to go out there and play."

Sox pitchers also came in with 31 walks (in 62 innings), the most in the American League.

"We're always on them about being aggressive, trying to hit the glove and staying down in the zone," Ventura said of the pitching staff. "They know they're not supposed to be walking guys. I don't think it's about effort; it's just being able to do it."

Sox starter Jose Quintana issued 2 walks in 7 innings, but the left-hander picked up the easy win after allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits.