White Sox blast 4 solo homers, Reynaldo Lopez sharp in 5-2 win over Indians

The White Sox hit four solo home runs, including two by Yoan Moncada, and right-hander Reynaldo Lopez held the Indians to two hits in 7⅔ innings in the Sox’ 5-2 victory Monday at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Jose Abreu hit his 10th homer with two outs in the first inning against right-hander Shane Bieber (2-2), and Welington Castillo and Moncada hit two-out homers in the next two innings. Moncada, who has nine this season, connected again in the sixth.

Castillo bounced a ground-rule double into the Sox’ bullpen and scored on Yolmer Sanchez’s RBI double in the seventh to give Lopez a 5-2 lead.

Lopez was almost flawless after Francisco Lindor led off the game with a home run. He allowed one more hit, a single to Lindor, and gave up an unearned run in the third when Leonys Martin led off with a walk, stole second, advanced to third on Castillo’s throwing error and scored on Lindor’s sacrifice fly.

Lopez (5.58 ERA) struck out six and walked two. He called it a better outing than his 14-strikeout performance against the Tigers on April 28.

“Because of how I commanded all my pitches and because I felt better physically,” said Lopez, who threw a 98 mph four-seam fastball past Jordan Luplow for a strikeout to end the seventh inning.

Moncada, who entered with a .200 average in May, also singled to raise his average to .289. He has played in every game, and manager Rick Renteria said Moncada has looked tired, so he gave him some undisclosed motivation.

“I prefer to keep that to myself,” Moncada said. “He was telling me before the game, ‘Hey, keep your energy up.’ I did it. I just kept pushing myself, and I kept my energy up.”

Aaron Bummer (0.00) got one out in the eighth, and Alex Colome pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save in eight opportunities.

The Sox (19-21) snapped a three-game home losing streak and have won three straight games.

Jimenez goes on rehab assignment

Rookie left fielder Eloy Jimenez will begin a minor-league rehab stint for Class AAA Charlotte on Tuesday. Jimenez, who has a high right ankle sprain, is pegged to return next Monday, when the Sox open a seven-game road trip in Houston, but a return this weekend when the team plays the Blue Jays at home is not out of the question.

He will DH Tuesday, then gradually work his way onto the field, general manager Rick Hahn said. Between a three-day stay on the bereavement list and the injury, Jimenez has been limited to one plate appearance in the last 22 days, so he needs enough at-bats to regain his timing.

Rotation as is

At least for now, the Sox are sticking with Lopez, Lucas Giolito, Ivan Nova, Manny Banuelos and Dylan Covey.

“We have had some conversations with other clubs about potential fits,” Hahn said. “But as will come as no surprise to you, there’s not a great market, not a very fluid market for starting pitching right now.”