Moncada breaks out of slump in big way

CLEVELAND -- Prior to the White Sox 9-1 victory over the Indians to open a four-game series at Progressive Field on Monday night, manager Rick Renteria had a little talk with Yoán Moncada.

“He told me, ‘Is everything good with you? You are not being yourself. You are not being as aggressive as you were before,’” said Moncada through interpreter Billy Russo. “He was right.”

“The last few games were more felt for swings,” said Renteria of Moncada. “Definitely today he was actually attacking again. It was evident in his approach from the very first at-bat, obviously.”

Moncada entered Monday with no home runs and two RBIs over his last 13 games. He broke out with four RBIs and came up just 10 to 15 feet short of three home runs among the 13-hit attack for the White Sox (15-18). Moncada homered in the first against Trevor Bauer, scoring Leury Garcia.

Moncada launched a deep sacrifice fly to center in the third and then doubled home a run off the base of the right-field wall in the fifth. All seven of his home runs have come as a left-handed hitter and from the No. 2 spot in the lineup.

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Bauer struck out seven, but the White Sox otherwise hit him hard. They scored eight runs (seven earned) on 10 hits off the right-hander in five-plus innings, with eight connections at 100 mph or greater exit velocity, according to Statcast.

James McCann homered, Garcia knocked out three hits and Charlie Tilson, making his 2019 big league debut, singled, doubled and scored two runs. Bauer allowed more than four earned runs for the first time since May 8, 2017, snapping a streak of 60 starts allowing four or fewer. Much like Moncada, being aggressive was key to the White Sox overall attack.

“I didn’t beat myself tonight. They beat me, for sure,” Bauer said. “They were aggressive. Teams haven’t really been aggressive against me recently. They hit some really bad pitches really hard. And they hit some really good pitches really hard. And then even balls they mis-hit were hits. Just one of those nights, I guess.”

“You see his numbers,” said McCann of Bauer. “He strikes people out because he has good stuff. The plan was to get our pitch and not miss it and not allow ourselves to get in two strike counts.”

Iván Nova earned the victory, giving up one run over seven innings. Nova entered with the highest ERA in the Majors of any qualifying pitcher at 8.33, but he also stood as the only White Sox starter to have worked seven innings this year back on April 1 at Progressive Field. It was the White Sox first quality start since Reynaldo Lopez fanned a career-high 14 Tigers on April 28.

Monday’s performance ended a three-game losing streak for the White Sox, who were outscored 30-5 by the Red Sox during that stretch. It became a much-needed confidence boost pretty much from the start for Renteria’s crew.

“We went out today with a winning mentality just to attack him early in the count and I think that we did it,” Moncada said. “We fought through the whole game and we were aggressive today.”