The Chicago White Sox hit four consecutive home runs in the sixth inning of Thursdays game in the process of beating the Kansas City Royals 9-2. They tie the record with five other teams who have also gotten four consecutive homers.
Jim Thome started the adventure with a three-run homer that was his 25th of the season. He was followed by Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez and Juan Uribe. Next up was Toby Hall, who broke the string of homers but had his own contribution. This is the second time that he has played in a game in which his team hit four straight home runs. The first time was when he played with the Dodgers in 2006.
According to the AP, the last time it happened was April 22, 2007, when the Boston Red Sox hit four in a row against the New York Yankees.
Jim Thome now has 532 career home runs and is sixteenth on the home run list. Active players in front of him are his new teammate, Ken Griffey, Jr., who is sixth with 608 home runs, and Alex Rodriguez, who is thirteenth with 545.
Carlos Quentin also achieved a milestone, if you can call it that. He has been hit by a pitch in his last six games. That makes 20 times this season. The same AP story quotes Manager Ozzie Guillen as attributing it to Quentin’s batting stance. “He stands over the plate.”
Lance Broadway got the win, and was promptly demoted to the AAA team to make room for a reliever.
The White Sox have a tradition of shooting off fireworks after each home run hit by the home team. So there were four sets of fireworks within a matter of minutes. I happened to be at the game with my kids. Val thought the fireworks were cool and wanted them after every at-bat for the rest of the game. My little bubke didn’t like them much, though.
The White Sox, who have been in and out of first place since the All-Star Game, are back in first place now, one game ahead of the Minnesota Twins. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Red Line, the Cubs are in first place in their own division. So Chicago has two teams and they are both in first place. Still. Even this late in the season.
The Sox, of course, were the 2005 World Series Champions. The Cubs, of course, were the 1908 World Series Champs.
