Cal Sports Report

Cal Baseball: Andrew Vaughn Slugs 2 Homers in White Sox Final Game before All-Star Break

Hitting .395 over his past 12 games, the Chicago rookie now has 10 home runs.

Jeff Faraudo

Cal Baseball: Andrew Vaughn Slugs 2 Homers in White Sox Final Game before All-Star Break
Cal Baseball: Andrew Vaughn Slugs 2 Homers in White Sox Final Game before All-Star Break /

Andrew Vaughn heads into the All-Star break coming off his most productive game as a major leaguer.

The 23-year-old former Cal star hit two home runs and drove in four runs as the Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-5 in 10 innings Sunday at Camden Yards for their fifth straight victory.

The White Sox are 19 games above . 500 at 54-35, eight games ahead of Cleveland in the AL Central, and the rookie Vaughn has made significant contributions.

“We have an unbelievable group here,” Vaughn told the Chicago Tribune. “We have that winning vibe. Today was a good example of that.”

Sunday marked Vaughn's first career two-homer game and a career best for RBI in a single outing.

Andrew Vaughn watches his home run
Andrew Vaughn / Photo by Tommy Gilligan, USA Today

Vaughn hit a 447-foot solo home to center off Orioles starter Spenser Watkins in the fourth inning. Two innings later, he gave the White Sox a 4-2 lead by smacking a 385-foot homer off relieved Cole Sulser.

Here are both homers:

Baltimore squared things in the bottom of the ninth when pinch-hitter Trey Mancini belted a two-out, two-run homer off Liam Hendricks.

But the Sox took home the victory, thanks to a three-run homer in the 10th by Adam Engel.

Vaughn, who began the season hoping to land a roster spot during spring training, heads into the break with a .253 batting average, 10 home runs and 26 runs batted in.

In 12 games since June 27 when he was hitting .222 after a 1-for-17 stretch, Vaughn has caught fire to raise its bating average 31 points.

He’s hitting .395 (17-for-43) over that span with four home runs, 10 runs scored and nine RBI. His on-base percentage is .417, his slugging percentage .744.

Vaughn has hit safely in 10 of the past 12 games, and has two or more hits in six of them.

It’s an impressive stretch for Vaughn, whose ascent through the White Sox farm system was quick and disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Drafted No. 3 by Chicago in 2019, Vaughn got just 205 minor-league at-bats, all of them in ’19 before the 2020 minor league season was scrapped. He spent last summer working out in a special White Sox training camp.

The White Sox hoped he could make their MLB roster this spring as a designated hitter. But injuries in the outfield forced them to give Cal’s former first baseman a shot in left, and Vaughn has has spent at least portions of 63 games in the outfield without making an error.

“Everything here is for the team,” Vaughn said. “It’s been next man up. We’ve had a lot of guys go down. Just got to be there for the team and do what you can. It’s pretty special.”

The Santa Rosa native and his non-All-Star teammates will have the next four days off before beginning a three-game series on Friday at home against the AL West-leading Houston Astros.

Cover photo of Andrew Vaughn by Tommy Gilligan, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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Jeff Faraudo
JEFF FARAUDO

Jeff Faraudo was a sports writer for Bay Area daily newspapers since he was 17 years old, and was the Oakland Tribune's Cal beat writer for 24 years. He covered eight Final Fours, four NBA Finals and four Summer Olympics. 

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