When the White Sox hit home runs, they win

Yoan Moncada

When the White Sox hit at least one home run in a game, they typically win. When they do not homer, they typically lose.

I guess that makes them typical of baseball in 2021, right?

The Sox are now 30-6 when they hit a home run after they hit four solo shots Thursday in a 4-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Yoan Moncada got the Sox on the board in the bottom of the first inning with his fifth home run of the season. It was a good piece of hitting from Moncada -- Detroit starter Casey Mize (3-4) threw a splitter at the knees on the outside corner, and the Sox third baseman went with the pitch and hit it into the left-field bullpen.

Jake Lamb made it 2-0 in the bottom of the second when he hit a Mize fastball to Goose Island in right field. For Lamb, it was his fourth home run of the season. Lamb is now batting .265 with a .931 OPS. He might be in line for some more playing time against right-handed pitchers.

The Sox took a 2-1 lead into the seventh inning, when Yasmani Grandal connected against Mize for a 457-foot homer to right-center field that left the ballpark traveling at 110 mph. It was Grandal's seventh home run of the season. The Sox catcher continues to have the most bizarre season of any player in baseball. His season slash line is .137/.384/.363. Obviously, Grandal has the lowest batting average of any Sox regular, but he also has the second-highest on-base percentage, behind only Moncada (.426).

Tim Anderson hadn't homered since May 13, but he broke that drought in the bottom of the eighth with a solo shot to dead center off Detroit reliever Daniel Norris. It was Anderson's sixth home run of the season, and that capped the scoring.

For the record, the Sox are 4-16 this season when they do not hit a home run.

The power barrage helped right-hander Lance Lynn improve to 7-1 on the season. Lynn worked six innings, allowing a run on four hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

Relievers Aaron Bummer, Evan Marshall and Liam Hendriks each worked a scoreless inning in relief. Hendriks earned his 14th save in 16 chances.

It was good to see Marshall collect two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 eighth inning. The Sox need either Marshall or Codi Heuer to step up in high-leverage relief in the seventh and eighth innings. In this game, Marshall got it done, as he made quick work of the top three hitters in the Detroit batting order.

Heading into Friday's action, the Sox are 34-22 and have a three-game lead over the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central. Thursday's game was the first of four against Detroit.