“They’re good. They’ve got a ton of slug up and down the lineup.” 

That was how David Ross characterized the White Sox lineup prior to Friday’s game.

A couple hours later, the South Siders showed exactly that, smacking 6 homers en route to a 10-1 victory over the Cubs.

Rookie Luis Robert got the scoring started with a line drive 2-run shot into the left-field bleachers in the 2nd inning off Jon Lester. Jose Abreu followed with a 3-run shot in the 3rd inning and in the 4th, Danny Mendick added a solo blast and Yasmani Grandal hit a 2-run homer.

“From the 2nd inning on, went wrong,” Lester said. “Just too many hard-hit balls. I find it fascinating that I’ve given up all but 1 run on homers this year. Obviously need to fix that. If I start keeping the ball in the ballpark, maybe I pitch a little bit better.”

With the game already well in hand, Eloy Jimenez notched a solo blast of his own off Colin Rea in the 7th inning and Abreu added a second shot in the 9th off Jason Adam.

The Cubs aren’t alone in serving up homers to the South Siders, who have hit 24 over the last 7 games

For the @whitesox, 24 HRs in a seven-game span is a new team record.

— Jason Benetti (@jasonbenetti) August 22, 2020

Lester’s final stat line included 8 earned runs allowed over 3.2 innings, running his season ERA to 5.06. He came into the evening with only 3 homers surrendered in his first 4 starts of the campaign.

“I can’t run from the linescore,” Lester said. “This was terrible. Missed a lot of locations.”

Offensively, the Cubs scored a run in the 8th when Nico Hoerner singled home Victor Caratini.

Caratini was subbed in mid-game and wound up collecting a hit in both of his at-bats.

The Crosstown Series continues Saturday night as the Cubs (16-9) send Kyle Hendricks to the mound. Coverage begins on Marquee Sports Network at 6 p.m.