OAKLAND, Calif. — Elvis Andrus hit the second pitch of Thursday’s game against the Oakland Athletics over the left-field wall for a leadoff homer.
Four pitches later, Yoán Moncada homered.
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It was the first of two homers for Moncada, who had a three-run blast in the second, as the Chicago White Sox clobbered the A’s 14-2 in front of 4,591 at Oakland Coliseum.
Moncada matched a career-high with five hits. He homered twice, singled twice, doubled and had five RBIs. Andrus drove in two, Eloy Jiménez hit a two-run homer and Romy Gonzalez had a three-run home run as the Sox opened the four-game series with an offensive outburst.
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The 14 runs are the most the Sox ever have scored in 309 games at the Coliseum, according to the team. The five home runs matched the most by the Sox in a game at the ballpark (first accomplished on Sept. 27, 1981).
The Sox remained tied for second with the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central, 1½ games behind the Cleveland Guardians.
The Sox led 6-0 after two innings, which was plenty for Dylan Cease.
The Cy Young Award candidate allowed three hits in six scoreless innings in his first start since coming within one out of a no-hitter Saturday against the Twins.
Cease struck out nine and walked two to improve to 14-6. His third strikeout, Cristian Pache to end the second, was Cease’s 200th of the season.
It’s his second straight season with at least 200 strikeouts. He’s the seventh pitcher in franchise history with multiple 200-strikeout seasons, joining Ed Walsh (5), Chris Sale (4), Lucas Giolito (2), Javier Vázquez (2), Tom Bradley (2) and Gary Peters (2), according to the Sox.
The Sox scored 13 runs, four in the first, in support of Cease’s one-hitter against the Twins.
The offense got going early again Thursday with the back-to-back homers by Andrus and Moncada.
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Andrus drove in Gonzalez with a single in the second. Moncada followed with the three-run homer, making it 6-0.
Moncada singled and scored on Jiménez’s two-run homer in the fourth.
Gonzalez, who had four of the team’s 21 hits, doubled and scored on a single by Adam Engel in the fifth. Moncada added the RBI double later in the inning.
Gonzalez hit his three-run homer during the four-run sixth. Moncada’s fifth hit, a single, came in the inning. He previously had five hits June 15 in Detroit.
The Sox scored 13 runs in that game, one of three times they’ve accomplished the feat this season. They set a season high Thursday with the 14 runs while winning for the seventh time in nine games.
