Whatever Dallas Keuchel said after Monday night's uninspiring loss to the Tigers really worked. Or maybe the return of Tim Anderson and Edwin Encarnacion to the lineup gave the Sox the spark they needed? Or maybe it was a little bit of both?
Whatever the reason, the White Sox offense finally broke out of its collective slump in Tuesday's 8-4 win against Detroit.
Click to download the MyTeams App for the latest White Sox news and analysis.
Leading the charge was Eloy Jiménez, who busted out of a slump of his own by going 2-4 with a homer and four RBI. He had previously been 1-23 dating back to Aug. 5, and used a simple approach to break through.
"I was in a slump, and I feel like I was seeing the ball good, but I wasn't hitting it to the right spot," Jiménez said through interpreter Billy Russo. "(I was) swinging at some balls a little bit out of the zone. Now I'm just trying to see the ball and hit it where there's no people."
That's always a good idea.
But when asked for his thoughts on Jiménez's day, Rick Renteria provided a bit more of a nuanced assessment.
"Consistency, there's no secret to it," Renteria said. "Solid approaches working both lefties and righties… faced some righties today and was able to stay in on them. The two-strike ball down the right field line to tack on another run, I mean he had some really good at-bats today."
Zooming back out, this is the type of offensive output the White Sox envisioned when they built this team last winter. Tim Anderson setting the table, Jiménez and Encarnacion hitting bombs, and Abreu and Moncada driving in more runs with timely hitting.
"The entire lineup looked great," said starter Gio Gonzalez. "Everyone looked aggressive going out there. Plays were being made around the horn, guys were doing their job hitting the ball, moving runners over. It just looked like a White Sox win today."
"Today we felt really good," Jiménez said. "We took care of business and you see what happened."
RELATED: White Sox hitters rough up Carson Fulmer in first game against former team
SUBSCRIBE TO THE WHITE SOX TALK PODCAST FOR FREE.
Day after Keuchel calls out team, White Sox offense erupts in win over Tigers originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
