White Sox 7, Pirates 1: How SWEEP it is!

South Siders secure first series sweep of the season

What a series for the Chicago White Sox, as they swept the Pittsburgh Pirates this afternoon with a 7-1 win, their first series sweep of the season. Doing it on the road is impressive. Now, the Sox are the last team in baseball to secure a sweep, but let’s keep it positive after the offensive explosion we saw these last three games.

The team wasted no time scoring on early and continuing their hot offense at the plate: Chase Meidroth started off the game with a double off of lefty Andrew Heaney, a shot that ALMOST left the park, but was determined to be fan interference after review. After a walk to Austin Slater, Miguel Vargas capitalized big slamming a three-run home run to left-center field:

That wasn’t all, as Mike Tauchman wasted NO TIME as the next batter up, slamming one out of the park for a solo home run. When I say out of the park I am not being dramatic, as Tauchman hit the ball so hard it landed in the Allegheny River. Plus, the bat drop was pretty good, too:

That put Chicago out to a quick 4-0 lead, which would carry them the rest of the way. The Pirates got their first run of the game off of Aaron Civale in the bottom of the second inning, after Nick Gonzales reached third due to a double and throwing error, and Oneil Cruz drove him in with a sacrifice fly.

Colson Montgomery got into the fun in the top of the fourth with an RBI single to score Luis Robert Jr., who started off the inning with a single and a stolen base. Always nice to see Montgomery with a good piece of hitting as he works through his rookie season.

In the top of the fifth inning, Edgar Quero walked to start it off, and Vargas followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Tauchman had yet another great piece of hitting, doubling both runners in to push to a 7-1 lead. Tauchman has been incredible to have on the team this year as a veteran presence. What will happen with him as the trade deadline approaches is still unknown, but having him in this lineup has been key.

The score remained 7-1 most of the game, until the ninth inning. Civale had a solid day on the mound, grabbing the win and going six innings with just three hits, one run, one walk, and six strikeouts. That is exactly the type of performance he needed coming back from the All-Star break.

Grant Taylor got a clean inning of work, striking out the side except for a walk, providing some filth.

Dan Altavilla also had a clean inning, and Mike Vasil came in to close the game out. He did allow a run in the bottom of the ninth as Andrew McCutchen doubled to start the inning and made his away around to score on a series of ground outs, but other than that closed out the game with a strikeout to Cruz.

All good vibes from the team after the series win, and the White Sox are undefeated since the All-Star break! They look to continue the win streak on the road as they head to Tampa to play the Rays. Sean Burke will be on the mound against Shane Baz, and game time will be at 6:35 p.m. CT. Everyone enjoy the win, and we will see you back here tomorrow.