Yoan Moncada gets the scoring going early with a 2-run home run, then Yermin Mercedes follows that up with a solo home run.
It's hard to think of a better way for the White Sox to start a home opener.
After a more than two-hour rain delay, the South Side fans got a quick dose of what they've waited more than a year to see in person. Lance Lynn made his Guaranteed Rate Field debut by striking out the side in the top of the first. But the real fireworks came in the bottom of the inning, when the White Sox launched back-to-back jacks.
First it was Yoán Moncada, who must have enjoyed hearing his song, "Desastre Personal," as his walk-up music for the first time this season. He followed José Abreu's two-out double with a home run to left field, his first of the 2021 campaign.
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Then, Yermín Mercedes — playing in his first game on the South Side — continued his early season onslaught, absolutely blasting a Brad Keller pitch 485 feet into the left-field seats and sending those in attendance into euphoria. Mercedes ate up the fan reaction, too.
Mercedes' bomb was the third longest home run hit by a White Sox player at Guaranteed Rate Field, trailing only homers hit by Joe Borchard and Frank Thomas. With the blast, Mercedes extended his blazing start to the season to 14-for-24.
And yes, you read that right, that was Keller on the mound. He was the Kansas City Royals hurler who took offense to Tim Anderson's bat flip back in 2019. Anderson wasn't in the lineup Thursday, on the injured list with a strained hamstring. But the White Sox certainly picked their teammate up for a little revenge on the right-hander.
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It was an explosive way to begin the first home game of the season after the White Sox caused fan panic with a 3-4 road trip through Anaheim and Seattle. There was obviously a lot of baseball to play, but the two long balls brought smiles back to faces on the South Side.
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