Second-half White Sox strike again, improve to 6-1(!) since All-Star break

CHICAGO -- These are not your first-half White Sox.

Not even close. No real resemblance whatsoever. At least, not for the seven games since the All-Star break.

Chase Meidroth homered on the second pitch of the game Friday night against Shota Imanaga, beginning an absolute onslaught for the White Sox in a 12-5 pasting of the National League Wild Card leaders at Rate Field.

Check out some of these numbers, especially if you like offensive outbursts:

• Colson Montgomery homered off Imanaga as part of the 12-hit, seven-run barrage against the Cubs' ace, marking Montgomery’s third straight game with a long ball.

• Edgar Quero knocked out four hits, making him the third White Sox rookie in the past week to have four hits in a game, joining Kyle Teel and Meidroth.

• The White Sox scored three in the first inning and four in the fourth, meaning they now have 10 innings where they’ve plated at least three in this 6-1 stretch since the All-Star break. During a 32-65 first half, that occurrence took place just 32 times.

• Chicago's 18 hits set a single-game high for the season. The 12 runs scored increased the White Sox MLB-leading total to 61 since the All-Star break.

Did anyone see this run of offensive dominance on the horizon?

“I don’t think so, really. I don’t know if anyone saw this coming,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “We’re certainly pleased with the effort these guys have put in the whole year. And now to get the results to follow up with that has been nice for our group.”

“We were on a mission when we came back. We are playing together and playing for each other,” Meidroth said. “This has been a long time coming. It’s been really fun to put it all together this last week. We have to keep things rolling. A week is just a short part of the season.”

Every White Sox starter had at least one hit, five had a multihit effort and three players had three or more while handing the Cubs their fourth loss in five games. Adrian Houser (6-2) earned the victory, allowing three runs over 6 2/3 innings.

The veteran right-hander teared up while talking to the media postgame, and not because his name has been mentioned prominently in trade rumors. His wife and two children were in attendance, not to mention an abundance of family members showing their support.

“[It was] baby girl's first time to be out there, so it was really cool. It's special,” Houser said. “Any time you have the whole family here is really nice. Being able to get them up for the first time, she's a month old and having everyone here is really special.

“It's been a tough year for us, with the bouncing around and being away from each other. But we're fighting through it, and having them here means a lot."

Friday's matchup also saw a historic first in the longtime White Sox-Cubs rivalry. When Mike Tauchman took Chris Flexen deep in the fourth for one of four White Sox homers, it was the first time a former Cubs player (Tauchman) hit a homer off a former White Sox player (Flexen), or vice versa, in the history of this crosstown series, per the Elias Sports Bureau.

“Our game plan was [noticing that Imanaga] couldn't throw a fastball over the plate, and if he did, we were gonna be on it,” said left fielder Austin Slater, who added a home run of his own in the fourth. “So what if we swing over a couple splitters? But we weren't gonna let him just throw fastballs by us."

The White Sox also ended an eight-game losing streak to the Cubs (60-43), a four-game losing streak to them at home and evened the all-time series at 75-75. And if this past week is any indication, there could be more to come this weekend.

"A couple too many Cubs fans, but it was great,” said a smiling Slater of the frenzied sellout crowd of 38,762, Rate Field's second full house of the year. “They were quiet pretty much the whole game, and that was kind of nice."

“There’s a lot of buildup for that game with the crosstown rivalry. We were fired up for this weekend,” Meidroth said. “It was awesome. … Nothing but fun. That’s all it is.”