Andrew

Benintendi

Benintendi was the White Sox offense today; the rest of the lineup combined to go 0-for-27 against Bailey Ober and company. He drove in the team’s run in the first, scored the second run in the fourth thanks to a Kaelen Culpepper error and then hit a go-ahead homer in the sixth. It’s probably his best game since he hit two homers and drove in five runs against the Twins last September. He now has 18 career homers against the Twins, which is seven more than he has versus any other team.

He’ll be back in the mix for strong-side platoon at-bats going forward, and seems likely to start tonight against RHP Dean Kremer.

Benintendi figures to miss the next two games against Texas. Rikuu Nishida is taking his place and could make a start or two.

It was the team’s two oldest position players who kept the White Sox in the game tonight; Benintendi took Ryan Zeferjahn deep while batting for Randal Grichuk, who previously hit a three-run homer off Shota Imanaga in the fourth. Those blasts accounted for all five White Sox runs in what turned into a 10-inning loss. Benintendi’s homer was his 13th of the year. He has a .744 OPS that rates as his best mark since 2022.

Benintendi knocked a base hit and scored a run in the third inning, then came through in a big spot for Chicago in the seventh. With left-hander Drew Sommers on the mound, after intentionally walking Miguel Vargas, Benintendi singled on a ground ball to left field to drive in the go-ahead run for the White Sox. The 32-year-old outfielder is hitting .248/.310/.424 with 12 homers and 60 RBI across 366 plate appearances.

The White Sox might actually be able to get out from under some of Benintendi’s contract this summer if this keeps up. He’s hit .284/.360/.597 in June to improve to .247/.302/.443 overall. That he has no real defensive value is a problem, so the White Sox will certainly have to pay down a part of the $14.5 million he’s owed in the final year of his deal next season. Still, things are looking up from where they were a couple of months ago, when it seemed the team might be best served by just releasing him.

Benintendi strolled to the dish as a pinch hitter for Randal Grichuk with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth inning with the score knotted at one run apiece. He then jumped on a first-pitch sinker from Camilo Doval and clobbered his 393-foot (99.7-mph EV) game-changing blast. On the season, the 31-year-old outfielder is now slashing .242/.301/.440 with nine long balls and 37 RBI.

Benintendi hit his seventh homer of the season off of Roki Sasaki in the first inning to give the White Sox an early 1-0 lead. It was the only homer the White Sox would manage on the evening despite an eight-run outburst that included a five-run fifth inning against Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki. Benintendi is slashing .250/.382/.571 on the month with three homers and six RBI.

There’s something about Benintendi and the Twins. He has 17 homers against the franchise, which is six more than he has against any other club. 13 of those have come in 44 games at Target Field. Today’s game saw him draw three walks for the first time since 2022 and reach base safely five times for the first time since 2023. Benintendi also homered Monday, and he raised his OPS from .660 to .711 over the course of the three-game series.

With left-hander Framber Valdez on the mound for Detroit, this is a game that Benintendi probably would not have started if not for Munetaka Murakami’s injury. He did double off Valdez, though, before eventually putting the game away with a two-run homer off Beau Breiske that made it 7-1 in the eighth. Benintendi struck out in his other two at-bats. He is hitting .236/.283/.388 with four homers through 181 plate appearances.