KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Elvis Andrus came up with two on and one out in the fifth inning Friday against the Cincinnati Reds. The Chicago White Sox trailed by three runs at Great American Ball Park.

That changed with one swing as Andrus homered to left on a 2-2 pitch to tie the game.

Not only was it Andrus’ first home run of the season, it was also his first time getting to wear the team’s home run jacket that he was instrumental in bringing to the Sox dugout.

“It was awesome,” Andrus told the Tribune on Saturday of slipping on the jacket. “It was my idea. I was one of the few guys without a homer. I was like, ‘OK, I like putting it on (a teammate), but I want to put it on myself too.’

“Very happy I was able to get the feeling with the jacket on.”

Team home run celebrations are all the rage. The Toronto Blue Jays had a jacket, which reportedly was retired recently. The Minnesota Twins have a version that serves as a nod to fishing.

Teammates are liking the Sox version.

“Elvis came up with it. I love the idea,” infielder Jake Burger said recently. “It’s a little Chicago mobster-type outfit and my wife says I look good. That’s the positive.

“Elvis had been talking about it for a while and we got back from the road trip (to Tampa Bay and Toronto in late April) and it was hanging up, so we are excited to wear it a lot this year.”

Andrus said it’s all in the name of team unity.

“We wanted to look for an idea, something to get the team closer,” he said. “You can see it throughout the whole league, besides being a cool thing to do, just help incentivize everyone to hit a homer.”

An online search aimed for something that “represents us as a team and represents the city,” Andrus said.

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“We had a few ideas, but we felt the mob squad idea, we liked it and stuck to it,” he said. “(Bench coach) Charlie Montoyo had a friend, a company, they make the jackets. When we were in Toronto, they were able to do the whole design, help us do the design, the colors and all that, and everything that came out was perfect.”

The look comes with a hat.

“Still trying to find the necklace to go with, but so far it’s good,” Andrus told reporters Monday in Kansas City. “As soon as we did (it), we started to hit a bunch of homers as a team.”

Asked Monday who has looked the sharpest, Andrus said: “Burger was hitting a homer every single day, so he enjoyed it. Eloy (Jiménez) looked good. (Hanser) Alberto kind of liking it and he was kind of calling his homers before the game, which is awesome.

“But when you hit a homer, everybody looks good. That’s the key.”

The Sox had homered in eight straight games entering Tuesday’s game against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

Andrus, who was slashing .208/.291/.264 in 36 games, had seven RBIs in his last nine games.

“I see him compete every single at-bat,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said Tuesday. “Never see him waste an at-bat, never see the focus not be where it should be.”

Andrus has been a fixture in the lineup, starting every game.

“My goal is playing every day,” he said Monday. “Some years it’s tougher to do that, but that’s always my mindset. I prepare every single day to be on the field.”

Grifol credited Andrus for knowing how to pace himself.

“He knows how to play the game and respect the game in a way where he never looks like he’s not giving his best effort,” Grifol said. “But he paces himself. That’s the reason why he’s played the game for 15 years, has 2,000 hits and has spent minimal time on the IL. A very smart player that understands how to navigate 162 (games).”

Andrus entered Tuesday 17 games away from 2,000 for his career.

“It means a lot,” he said Monday of the mark. “I try not to think about it. One of the reasons (for) getting to 2,000 is being able to play every day. Even those days you don’t feel that good. That’s baseball. Sometimes the days we feel the worst physically are the best days of our careers.

“That’s what I keep in mind. No matter if something hurts, today might be that day I go 4-for-4. I love to play, I love the game, so I want to be there every day.”

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Reliever Garrett Crochet took the next step in his rehab assignment, getting transferred to Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday. Crochet, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery, allowed four runs in 3⅓ innings during three appearances for Double-A Birmingham.

“I think he and Liam (Hendriks) are on the same pace,” Grifol said. “But they’re in different situations obviously. We’re ramping up Garrett for multiple (innings) and Liam is just one inning.”