ATLANTA — The Chicago White Sox matched a season high with four home runs Monday.
They needed each one to outlast the Atlanta Braves 13-9 in front of 27,868 at Truist Park.
The Sox built a 10-1 lead in the sixth, only for the Braves to bring the tying run to the plate in the eighth. Jordan Leasure struck out Eli White with the bases loaded to end the eighth with the Sox still ahead by four. Grant Taylor pitched a scoreless ninth as the Sox snapped a four-game losing streak.
“To hang on there was great,” manager Will Venable said. “Obviously our offense did an outstanding job the entire night. I don’t think (Braves starter Spencer) Strider had his best stuff, but we made him pay for it. We were able to lay off breaking balls down and forced him in the zone. Great job by our offense, and to continue to play and tack on there was obviously huge.”
Sox starter Yoendrys Gómez allowed three earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and one walk in five-plus innings for the win.
For most of the night, it looked like the Sox were heading toward a blowout victory. Brooks Baldwin hit a solo home run to left-center in the third. Luis Robert Jr. lined a two-run homer over the left-field wall during a six-run fourth. Lenyn Sosa added to his team-high total with a three-run homer in the sixth, giving the Sox a 10-1 lead.
Kyle Teel capped the power display with a solo home run to lead off the seventh.
The Sox regained some of the offensive form they showed immediately after the All-Star break, reaching season highs in runs and hits (19).
“It was a great job overall hitting,” said Teel, who had four hits. “We ran the bases hard, put pressure on the defense. We did all the right things when it came to taking care of what we needed to and the things we could control. It was really great to see.”
It was the fourth time this season the Sox have hit four home runs, and they scored 10 or more runs for the ninth time. It was their first time reaching double figures in runs since a 12-5 win against the Chicago Cubs on July 25 at Rate Field. The Sox also hit four homers in that game.
That output came during the team’s 10-4 start after the All-Star break, in which it averaged 6.5 runs per game. The Sox then averaged 3.4 runs while going 2-11 in their next 13 games before Monday. That included scoring five runs total during the four-game losing streak.
They produced more than that in the fourth inning Monday.
Ahead 1-0 thanks to Baldwin’s home run, the Sox began the fourth with a single by Andrew Benintendi, who had four hits. Robert followed with his 13th home run.
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Mike Tauchman drove in two with a double to right. That was Strider’s final batter. He allowed seven runs on 10 hits in three-plus innings.
Sosa gave the Sox a 10-1 lead with his three-run homer in the sixth against reliever Austin Cox. Sosa leads the Sox with 17 home runs.
Michael Harris II and Jurickson Profar hit two-run homers in the sixth for the Braves. Teel responded with the solo shot as part of a two-run seventh. The Sox scored one more in the eighth to go ahead 13-5.
“Obviously we needed every one of (the runs),” Venable said. “The competitive spirit of the group, to continue to push and not stopping, was really nice to see.”
The Braves kept chipping away. A four-run eighth, which included a three-run homer by Profar against reliever Owen White, made it 13-9. They loaded the bases later in the inning, but Leasure got out of trouble by striking out Eli White.
“That team fought really hard against us,” Teel said. “Those guys can hit. I think all the pitchers and our whole team respects the guys we are going against.”
One runner reached in the ninth for the Braves before Taylor closed out the wild win.
“We’ve been right there the last couple of games,” shortstop Colson Montgomery said. “Been swinging it well. Just hasn’t been going our way. To have one of these against a really good starting pitcher and a really good team, it shows how we’ve been since the All-Star break.
“These are the fun games. Sometimes they are not pretty, but we closed it out and that’s all that matters.”
The Sox completed the game without Montgomery, who exited in the sixth with left side soreness.
“I just took a swing on a foul ball (during a sixth-inning at-bat) and felt a little bit of a stretch,” he said. “Got on first and they saw I was feeling for it and they asked me if I felt something, and I was like, ‘Yeah,’ but nothing too serious. More precautionary.
“We were up, the boys were rolling. I feel good about it right now.”