Can Andrew Vaughn and the White Sox Avoid 120 Defeats?

The former Cal star tripled and homered Monday night as Chicago crept to 36-115 after winning its third straight game

Andrew Vaughn is greeted after his home run Monday. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Maybe 120 losses isn’t inevitable for Andrew Vaughn and the lowly Chicago White Sox.

The Sox won a third straight game for the first time since late June on Monday, beating the Los Angeles Angels 8-4.

Chicago improved to 36-115, meaning it must win seven of its final 11 games to avoid matching the 1962 New York Mets’ modern record of 120 defeats in a season.

Just a week ago, getting to 120 seemed assured. Now the White Sox have shown enough signs of life to suggest they may be able to avoid that next level of baseball infamy.

Their 4-3 win over A’s on Sunday gave the White Sox their first series victory since June. 

With a victory over the Angels tonight, Chicago can match its longest win streak of the season. Yep, four games.

Andrew Vaughn launches his first triple of the season. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Vaughn, the former Cal star, did his part Monday night. He hit a solo homer in the first inning as Chicago jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Then he tripled in a run in the second as the White Sox stretched their advantage to 6-0.

It was just the fourth career triple for the fourth-year big leaguer and marked the first time Vaughn has triple and homered in the same game.

Having achieved that through just two innings prompted us to wonder if he might flirt with hitting for the cycle — a single, double, triple and home run all in the same game.

Alas, he did not get another hit, finishing 2 for 4.

Still, his batting average has crept up to .248, which is the highest it’s been since April 4, when he was hitting .250 through six games. If .248 doesn’t sound particularly impressive, consider this: It’s the best of any player on the roster who has played at least 75 games.

In fact, Vaughn continues to lead the club in games played (138), at-bats (525), runs (53), hits (130), doubles (29) and RBI (66). He is second on the White Sox with 18 home runs, one behind Andrew Benintendi.

The White Sox hit four home runs on Monday — including two by Benintendi — and Vaughn said there was a different feeling in the dugout.

“We had a good approach (at the plate),” Vaughn told the Chicago Tribune. “We knew what we wanted to do, 1 through 9 (in the order and) stuck to our game plan.

“You could definitely feel the energy in the dugout. We were rolling, everybody was swinging the bat well. Hitting’s contagious.”

There’s no way to spin this season in a positive direction, but Vaughn has made steady progress after a gruesome start.

He was batting just .199 (40 for 201) through the end of May, with four home runs and 19 RBI over his 54 games.

In his 84 games since then, Vaughn is hitting .278 (90 for 324) with 14 homers and and 47 RBI. 

Over the past eight games, he’s been hot by any measure, hitting at a .424 clip (14 for 33).