Chicago White Sox: 17 runs scored with first fully healthy lineup

No matter who is playing for the Chicago Cubs, there is no doubt that scoring 17 runs on them is impressive. That is what the Chicago White Sox did in their first game of the season with all of their stars in the lineup. Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, and Yasmani Grandal are all elite players that missed significant time due to injury.

With the return of Grandal, it became the first lineup to feature all three of them in addition to Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson, Jose Abreu, and Andrew Vaughn. They showed just what they can do when facing a weaker opponent. However, if they can have consistent offense from all of their stars for the rest of the season, they could make a deep run.

Grandal was a key piece to the win in his first game back. He went four for six with two home runs, eight RBIs, and two runs scored. It was a great way for him to return to the team and help them win. It was a much-needed boost for them offensively.

This win didn’t start off well for the White Sox. Dallas Keuchel allowed the Chicago Cubs to take a 6-0 lead after one inning. That would be the only inning he finished as they quickly went to Reynaldo Lopez. He held it down for 5.0 more innings where he recorded seven strikeouts and no walks with no runs scored.

The Chicago White Sox needed this type of offensive outburst against the Chicago Cubs.

After Lopez, the rest of the bullpen went for three more innings allowing seven more runs. Mike Wright, Garrett Crochet, and Craig Kimbrel were the ones who followed Lopez. It wasn’t the best game out of Craig Kimbrel in the 9th as he gave up three himself. It is clear that he shouldn’t be out there when it isn’t a save situation.

Normally, when you give up 13 total runs, you lose. However, the healthy White Sox lineup put up 17 runs and sent a message to the rest of the league. When Dallas Keuchel isn’t there to serve up a six-spot in the first inning at home, this team could be really dangerous. They won’t score that much every day but they will certainly have some big runs totals down the stretch.

With all of the big bats available right now, it is time to start getting excited about the offense as a whole. With Lance Lynn on the mound later today against Alec Mills of the Cubs, it is going to be a lot of fun. We should be able to see what it is like for this lineup to compete knowing their ace is on their mound. It is nice to see them at full strength again.