White Sox explode offensively for 17 hits and beat Angels

Josh Harrison and Luis Robert hit two-run homers during Chicago’s five-run fifth inning, and the White Sox pounded out 17 hits in an 11-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night.

José Abreu and Yoán Moncada had RBI doubles during a five-run seventh for the White Sox, who rallied from an early three-run deficit with multi-hit games from seven batters to win for only the second time in seven games.

“You’re down three, and I think everybody was collectively saying, ‘We’re not doing this to (starter) Johnny (Cueto) again,” Chicago manager Tony La Russa said. “Our guys were relentless. Shows what we can do.”

Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani hit back-to-back homers in the third inning for Los Angeles, which has lost five of eight on its brawl-marred homestand. Ohtani went 3 for 3 with a walk, two doubles and two RBIs on the night before his next mound start.

Cueto (2-4) recovered from yielding three homers in a shaky third to pitch six innings of seven-hit ball.

“I told them, ‘Let’s hit homers,'” Cueto said of his dugout conversations with his teammates. “Let’s put the ball in the air, because it’s carrying today. Those homers got me going, and then I was able to execute.”

Robert’s majestic 448-foot shot off Oliver Ortega (1-3) highlighted Chicago’s dismantling of the Halos’ perpetually poor pitching staff. Robert, Tim Anderson and Abreu all had three hits, and Harrison drove in three runs.

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“To have a day like today is good for everybody,” Robert said through a translator. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to have this day tomorrow, but we’re going to try.”

Angels rookie Chase Silseth largely cruised through the first four innings of his fifth big league start, but Chicago abruptly chased him in the fifth. Seby Zavala had an RBI double before Harrison tied it with just his second homer of the season.

Between injuries for a handful of relievers, two underperforming starters being sent to the minors and top relievers Ryan Tepera and Raisel Iglesias currently appealing suspensions, the Angels will be scrambling for any competent pitching outside their top four starters in the next few weeks.

“When you’re playing down a man at any position, it makes it more challenging, but I still felt good about where we were,” Angels bench coach Ray Montgomery said. “It got (away) quick there, as the rallies tend to do. A couple different pitches, some different bounces and execution, and it goes another way.”

Chicago sent 11 batters to the plate in the seventh, which could have been even bigger if Jaime Barria hadn’t struck out Anderson and Robert with the bases loaded to end it.

Trout was visibly frustrated in center field while Angels reliever Elvis Peguero was on the mound in the seventh. The three-time MVP appeared to signal to the Angels’ dugout that Peguero was tipping his pitches while he allowed four runs on two hits and two walks.

Peguero confirmed that Trout alerted him about the pitch-tipping during the game.

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BIG FLIES

Andrew Velazquez homered in the second before Trout and Ohtani connected, giving the Angels three homers in nine pitches by Cueto. Two pitches after Trout put his 23rd homer down the left field line, Ohtani blasted his 17th — and fourth of the Angels’ homestand — with a 115.2-mph exit velocity.

The Angels’ former MVPs homered in consecutive at-bats for the fifth time in their careers and the second time this season.

INTERIM INTERIM

The Angels played their second game after their massive brawl with the Seattle Mariners and the subsequent suspensions, some of which are being appealed. Montgomery again served as interim manager Phil Nevin’s replacement.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: Moncada went 2 for 5 with two RBIs after coming off the injured list earlier Tuesday. He had been out since June 18 with a strained right hamstring.

Angels: LF Brandon Marsh left with a bruised right knee in the sixth. … Reliever Archie Bradley will be out likely for two months after breaking a bone in his elbow while falling off the dugout railing during the brawl last Sunday. … RHP Jimmy Herget has been shut down again while recovering from a right shoulder impingement. He went on the injured list a week ago.

UP NEXT

Ohtani (6-4, 2.90 ERA) returns to the mound for the Halos’ homestand finale after throwing eight innings of scoreless two-hit ball with a career-high 13 strikeouts last week against Kansas City. He’ll face Chicago’s Michael Kopech (2-4, 2.59), who is coming off back-to-back losses.