5 takeaways: White Sox beat Astros in wild card series

The White Sox have won a playoff series for the first time since 2005, and they have advanced to the American League Division Series for the first time since 2021.

The South Siders swept their best-of-three wild card series with the Houston Astros this week, winning Game 1, 6-3, on Tuesday and then prevailing 7-3 in Game 2 on Wednesday.

Here are five takeaways from this series:

1. Fast starts pay off. The Sox became the first team in baseball history to lead at the end of every inning in a multi-game postseason series. In Game 1, they scored one run in the first inning and two more in the second to take an early 3-0 lead. They eventually built a 5-0 lead they would never relinquish. In Game 2, the Sox scored four runs in the first, and while the Astros cut it to 4-3 at one point, they could never tie it.

It's a funny thing: I'm more nervous watching the Sox when they are ahead than when they are behind. I'm always thinking, "Please don't blow it." But despite the tension I personally feel, for the team itself, it is a better to play with a lead 100% of the time. We all know that comebacks can and do happen, but it's hard when you're trailing all the time. In this series, the Astros were constantly fighting uphill, and they could never get to the top of that hill.

2. Chase Meidroth delivers the biggest hit. In my last blog, I noted that Meidroth's step forward to legitimate everyday second baseman was one of the biggest positive developments for the Sox this season. On Wednesday, he delivered the biggest hit of his career thus far and -- in my estimation -- the biggest home run in Sox history since Jim Thome won the AL Central title for the Sox on Sept. 30, 2008.

This home run occurred 18 years later to the day. The Astros had cut the Sox lead from four runs to one when Meidroth stepped to the plate with two men on in the top of the sixth. Houston brought in its best right-handed reliever, Bryan Abreu, to face Meidroth. But Abreu fell behind in the count 3-1, and he left a slider in the middle of home plate. Meidroth capitalized with a 3-run blast to left-center that restored a four-run lead for the Sox. It would turn out to be the last run-scoring hit of the series -- a fatal blow to the Astros' hopes.

3. Jordan Hicks steps up. One of the questions I had going into the series was, could another right-handed reliever other than Grant Taylor step forward to help the Sox? The answer was yes, and Hicks was that guy. Hicks was a middle-tier reliever for the Sox this season, going 3-2 with a 3.94 ERA in 53 appearances. Respectable, but nothing earth-shattering.

But in this series, Hicks appeared in both games and was effective both times. He totaled 3.1 innings over those two appearances, retiring all 10 batters he faced, four of them by strikeout. He earned the win in Game 1, but his ability to cover two innings in Game 2 while pitching in back-to-back games was most impressive. Hicks has always had good velocity. He was firing 100-101 mph in Houston, and he was consistently in the zone. Astros hitters had no answers.

4. Miguel Vargas struggles at the plate rendered moot. The Sox won this series with minimal contributions from their best offensive player. Vargas went 0 for 9 with three strikeouts, one walk and one run scored. It didn't matter because the Sox got something from almost everyone else in a team offensive performance.

Meidroth was the biggest bat, going 4 for 7. But several players had multiple hits in the series -- Kyle Teel, Sam Antonacci, Randal Grichuk, Tristan Peters, Braden Montgomery. Heck, Colson Montgomery even got in on the fun a little. The slumping shortstop had only one hit, but at least it was a solo home run in Game 1. Obviously, the Sox will need Vargas in the next round, but they papered over his lack of production in this round nicely.

5. Sweep gives the pitching staff a break. Next up for the Sox is the ALDS against the Cleveland Guardians, who received a bye through the first round. The Guardians have had a week off, and they'll be able to set up their pitching as they wish. The Sox do not have that luxury, at least not entirely, but finishing this Houston series in two games is beneficial. With no game Thursday or Friday, every pitcher will have at least two days of rest before Game 1 on Saturday in Cleveland.

Davis Martin, Noah Schultz and Bryan Hudson did not pitch at all in Houston. And while Taylor threw a season-high 54 pitches to record the final seven outs and secure the Game 1 victory, he did not need to pitch in Game 2, and he will have three days of rest before Cleveland. Ditto Hagen Smith, who tossed 38 pitches in three innings of work in the Game 1 win. Taylor and Smith are the most dynamic arms the Sox have, and both should be available for multiple innings of work Saturday, if needed.

Here's the schedule for the ALDS:

Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 3 at Cleveland, noon

Game 2: Monday, Oct. 5 at Cleveland, 4 p.m.

Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 7 at Chicago, 3 p.m.

*Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 8 at Chicago, 4 p.m.

*Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 10 at Cleveland, 4 p.m.

*if necessary

I'll be at the ballpark Wednesday. If you're going, see you there. Go Sox!

White Sox are wild card-bound; what went right, what went wrong

The last time I blogged, the White Sox had 19 games remaining in the season. They went 9-10. Not great, but not bad either.

Unfortunately, the Cleveland Guardians went 12-5, good enough to finish 85-77 -- one game ahead of the Sox, who finished 84-78.

The good news for the Sox: They are still going to the playoffs as the last wild card team in the American League. It's their first playoff berth since they won the AL Central in 2021. And it's a 24-win improvement over last season, when they finished 60-102.

Also, the wild card series is a winnable one. The Sox will take on the Houston Astros, who won the AL West with an 81-81 record.

This series could go either way, but it's definitely a fair fight. Now that the regular season is over, let's reflect back on five things that went right for the Sox this year:

1. Miguel Vargas breakout. Vargas batted .250/.363/.474 with 33 homers, 93 RBIs, 31 doubles, 22 stolen bases, 106 runs scored and 101 walks. He's the first player in Sox history to have 30-plus homers, 30-plus doubles, 20-plus steals and 100-plus runs scored in the same season. He's been the best player on this team, the most consistent player, from start to finish. And since the Sox are in the playoffs, he deserves some down-ballot votes for AL MVP.

2. Tristan Peters solidifies the outfield. Peters appeared in 156 of the 162 games this season, most of them in center field. Let me say that again: 156 games. It takes Luis Robert Jr. about three seasons to be available for that many games. Before this season, Peters was 0 for 12 in four games in MLB. This season, he batted .265/.337/.437 with 12 homers, 31 doubles and 56 RBIs. More importantly, he played above-average defense at a middle-of-the-diamond position. He even made the All-Star team.

3. Grichuk/Benintendi DH platoon. Randal Grichuk hit his 15th homer of the season in Sunday's 4-2 win over the Colorado Rockies. Andrew Benintendi also had 15 homers this season, so essentially, the Sox used two players to get 30 homers and 124 RBIs out of a DH platoon. Benintendi totaled 78 RBIs as the left-handed part of that platoon, while Grichuk produced 44 RBIs. 

4. Murakami's power. There were some ups and downs for Munetaka Murakami in his rookie season. He was good the first two months, good enough to make the All-Star team, and then he missed six weeks with a hamstring injury. Then he struggled for a good chunk of the second half, although he has come on the last 10 days of the season. He has four homers and 11 RBIs in his past 10 games, during which the Sox went 7-3. Yes, the strikeout totals are high at 196 for the year. But is anyone complaining about a team-high 35 homers, a .347 OBP and a .478 slugging percentage? I think you take that from your first baseman.

5. Chase Meidroth's improvement. The Sox haven't had the same Opening Day starter at second base two years in a row since Tadahito Iguchi. Meidroth appears poised to end that streak next season, as he posted a 4.5 bWAR season, second on the team only to Vargas. Meidroth finishes the season at .276/.350/.415 with 16 homers, 63 RBIs, 31 doubles, 90 runs scored and a chance to be a finalist for a Gold Glove at second base. For the third player acquired in the Garrett Crochet trade with Boston, this is a pleasant development.

When you finish one game out of the division lead, there's always a few things you wish could have gone a little bit better. After all, the Sox were one win away from getting a bye into the AL Division Series. Here are five of those things:

1. Shane Smith's fall into oblivion. Remember the Sox Opening Day starter? Smith was the feel-good story of the 2025 season, the former Rule 5 draft pick who established himself as a rotation stalwart. Or so we thought. Smith got lit up by the Milwaukee Brewers in that first game. He made three starts, losing two, and posting a 10.80 ERA before being optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. Between injury and poor performance, he never made it back to Chicago in 2026 after those first three terrible starts.

2. Catching situation becomes a mess. The Sox felt so confident in their catching situation that they made a bobblehead out of Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero. Alas, Teel got hurt in the World Baseball Classic, and two separate stints on the injured list limited him to 39 games and a .697 OPS. Quero was healthy, but his struggles kept him shuttling between Chicago and Charlotte throughout the year. He batted just .203 with a .540 OPS in 69 games. Drew Romo ended up catching 61 games for the Sox, during which he batted .144. Yuck. Reese McGuire, Joey Bart and Jake Rogers also spent time on this roster. None were very good. Fortunately, Teel is healthy for the playoffs.

3. Costly September losing streak. From Sept. 2 to Sept. 16, the Sox lost 10 out of 14 games. The stretch included a ghastly sweep at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and losing two out of three to the also-ran St. Louis Cardinals. In fact, a ninth-inning homer by Grichuk -- with two outs and two strikes -- was the only thing that saved the Sox from being swept in St. Louis. That stretch of bad ball concluded with the Sox losing two out of three at Cleveland, and well, when you lose a division by one game, that series looms large. In the second game of that series, the Sox led 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth. They were one strike from victory. They lost 7-6. Ultimately, that two-game swing flipped the division.

4. Colson Montgomery's late-season fade. Remember early in the season? We were talking about Montgomery being one of the best shortstops in the league, along with Bobby Witt. We were talking about him being the clear best shortstop in Chicago, ahead of the North Side's Dansby Swanson. That all turned to dust the second half of the season. Montgomery totaled 31 homers and 87 RBIs, yes, and that's good for a middle infielder. But he also set a MLB record for strikeouts in a season with 227. And in September? Montgomery went 8 for 81 with 42 strikeouts. Good grief.

5. Rough trade deadline. The Sox have a host of first- and second-year players on the roster, and they definitely could have used some veteran midseason reinforcements. They didn't really get them, although Huascar Brazoban and Brenton Doyle are making a late push to try to salvage the situation. After being initially ineffective and missing nearly a month with a lat strain, Brazoban is unscored upon in his past four relief appearances since coming off the injured list. Doyle is 12 for 35 with three homers in his past 11 games. Like Grichuk, he homered in Sunday's season finale. The other two trade deadline acquisitions, Bart and Luis Castillo, the less said the better. Bart got hit by a pitch the first week he was with the Sox and hasn't played since. Castillo is 1-2 with an 8.42 ERA in nine appearances since joining the team. He's now on the injured list, so his "playoff experience" has been worthless.

Next stop, Houston. The wild card series is scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday, with all three games at 4 p.m. Games will be televised on NBC Sports Network and Peacock. If you are a Comcast subscriber in the Chicago area, NBC Sports Network is on Channel 1211.

American League Central race reset

There are less than three weeks remaining in the regular season, so let's reset where the American League Central Division race stands.

The White Sox took two out of three from the Minnesota Twins over the weekend at Rate Field, ending any realistic chance of the Twins winning the division.

It's a near certainty the division champion will be either the Sox or the Cleveland Guardians.

The Sox stand at 75-68, three games ahead of the Guardians, who lost 6-4 to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday afternoon. Cleveland's record is 73-72. The Sox have 19 games to play; the Guardians have 17.

Here are the remaining schedules for both teams:

Sox: 3 vs. Pittsburgh, 3 at St. Louis, 3 at Cleveland, 4 vs. Detroit, 3 at Kansas City, 3 vs. Colorado

Cleveland: 2 at Baltimore, 3 at Minnesota, 3 vs. White Sox, 3 vs. Athletics, 3 at Boston, 3 at Kansas City

The series at Cleveland from Sept. 14-16 is obviously an important one, as it will decide the tiebreaker. The Sox currently lead the season series, 6-4, and they will need to win one game in that series to secure the tiebreaker. The Guardians would need a series sweep.

But taking a tie out of the equation, here are some various scenarios for each team to win the division outright:

• If the Sox go 7-12, the Guardians would need to go 10-7.
• If the Sox go 8-11, the Guardians would need to go 11-6.
• If the Sox go 9-10, the Guardians would need to go 12-5.
• If the Sox go 10-9, the Guardians would need to go 13-4
• If the Sox go 11-8, the Guardians would need to go 14-3.
• If the Sox go 12-7, the Guardians would need to go 15-2.

I could be wrong, but I think it's reasonable to believe the Sox will win somewhere between seven and 12 of their remaining 19 games. 

The math favors the Sox at this stage, but we know Cleveland is capable of getting crazy-hot in September. Just last year, the Guardians closed by winning 20 of their final 27 games. They erased an 11-game lead the Detroit Tigers held on Sept. 4 to claim the division title.

Bottom line: The Sox can't expect to back into this. Cleveland will not go quietly. That said, the Sox should be OK if they continue to play at their current pace and, most importantly, win at least one of three in that series vs. the Guardians.

Happy Labor Day from The Baseball KId

 

Tommy Pham is back on the White Sox

Here's my hot take of the day that will make me persona non grata among White Sox fans: Tommy Pham is not a "clubhouse cancer." 

The Sox on Monday acquired Pham from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for cash considerations. I know what you're saying: Wasn't the trade deadline Aug. 3?

Yes, yes it was. But Pham was not on Philadelphia's 40-man roster, which means he was eligible to be dealt, and he can still be eligible for postseason play if he's added to a roster by Sept. 1, which is ... checks notes ... today. How about that? 

This move sent fans into a tizzy because they are worried the 38-year-old Pham, known around the league as an intense competitor, will upset the apparently delicate chemistry in the Sox clubhouse.

And, you know, Pham slapped poor Joc Pederson (who wasn't even his teammate) in the face in an alleged dispute over fantasy football in 2022. That must mean he's a bad guy, right? What is this? A soap opera? 

A few things: First, the Sox have spent six months building a strong clubhouse, and if it's truly as strong as we all think it is, certainly it can handle the addition of a personality like Pham's.

Secondly, these are grown men playing for money. They are professionals, and they are expected to do their jobs regardless of what they think about their teammates.

Third, Pham was a member of the White Sox just two seasons ago. General manager Chris Getz and other front office members certainly know him, and if they thought he was a bad person, do you really think they would bring him back to the team now? 

Lastly, as fans, we aren't in the clubhouse. But players are, and veteran Andrew Benintendi, who was remembers playing with Pham two years ago, seems happy about the move.

"I enjoyed playing with him. I'm looking forward to seeing him," Benintendi told MLB.com. "Brings it every single day, is passionate about winning. Yeah, I think he'll be a good addition."

Said Sox manager Will Venable, "It means a lot. I'm really excited about Tommy Pham coming. As you look at it broadly, our need for a right-handed bat against left-handed pitching is something that we're really excited about. And then the human being, the teammate, the edge that he brings, kind of who he is as a total player. I think he's going to make a real big impact here."

For me, the problem isn't Pham's attitude. I welcome this kind of player. I just question whether he can still play effectively in MLB at age 38.

Pham played for three organizations this season: the New York Mets, the Baltimore Orioles and the aforementioned Phillies. His only big-league time this year was in April with the Mets. He appeared in nine games and went 0 for 13 with seven strikeouts.

Most recently, with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, he batted .250/.381/.391 with three homers and 25 RBIs in 44 games. 

I'm guessing we will see Pham play corner outfield when the opposition is throwing a left-handed starter. Left fielder Sam Antonacci, as a left-handed batter, has struggled at times against lefties this year. Right fielder Braden Montgomery, a switch hitter, has been stronger from the left side than the right in his career. 

Those two factoids apparently opened this door for Pham. We'll see if he has enough baseball left in him to make a meaningful contribution over the 25 games on the September schedule.

Anyway, let's welcome Pham back with our traditional video for players whom the Sox reacquire:

2 out of 3 all White Sox needed vs. Twins

The White Sox missed an opportunity to sweep the Minnesota Twins on Sunday. But given the circumstances, winning two games out of three is good enough.

The Sox arrived in Minnesota with a 2.5-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central Division, and a 6.5-game lead over the Twins.

They exit Minneapolis leading the Guardians by 3.5 games, and the Twins by 7.5 games. And, there are three more games off the schedule.

The Sox stand at 72-64 with 26 games remaining. Here's a look back at the weekend that was:

Friday, Aug. 28

White Sox 7, Twins 4: Minnesota starter Dean Kremer entered Friday's game with a 4-0 record and a 1.53 lifetime ERA in five starts against the Sox. In those games, he had allowed only five runs combined. But in this game, the Sox knocked him around for six runs in the first four innings.

Colson Montgomery's 3-run homer highlighted a four-run first inning, and Andrew Benintendi went 2 for 4 with an RBI single and an RBI double.

Sox starter Luis Castillo struggled once again, allowing four earned runs over four innings. The veteran right-hander has a lousy 6.45 ERA over his first five starts with the South Siders.

Fortunately for Castillo, the Sox bullpen fired five shutout innings. Grant Taylor (7-2) worked a career-high 2.2 innings with three strikeouts to get the win. Bryan Hudson pitched around two singles in the bottom of the ninth to earn his sixth save of the season.

Saturday, Aug. 29

White Sox 3, Twins 2: Benintendi didn't win this game singlehandedly, but he provided all the offense the Sox would need. The South Siders totaled only three hits in this game, but Benintendi had all three of them.

In the first inning, he singled home Sam Antonacci, who led off the game with a walk. In the fourth inning, he doubled and later scored on an error by Minnesota shortstop Kaelen Culpepper. And with the score tied 2-2 in the sixth, Benintendi connected for his 14th homer of the season to provide the margin of victory.

That made a winner of Erick Fedde (7-8), who tossed five innings of two-run ball. He struck out four and walked two. The bullpen once again was strong, with Sean Ncwcomb tossing three scoreless innings, nursing that 3-2 lead from the sixth inning through the eighth. Hudson worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his seventh save of the season.

Sunday, Aug. 30

Twins 5, White Sox 1: Zebby Matthews (9-8) had perhaps the best start of his career for the Twins. He retired the first 17 batters he faced before Drew Romo broke up his perfect game with a two-out single in the top of the sixth.

Matthews went on to throw 8.1 innings, allowing only one run on five hits. He struck out five and walked nobody. This was pretty darn close to being a shutout. The Sox didn't score until there were two outs in the ninth, when Braden Montgomery singled off Twins reliever Jeff Hoffman to allow one of Matthews' inherited runners to score.

The Twins scored three runs in the first inning off the combination of opener Jordan Hicks (2-2) and Tyler Gilbert. Hicks was charged with all three runs on one hit, as he got himself in trouble with a pair of walks. 

It's been an up-and-down season for Hicks, who was unscored upon in 15 straight outings from June 21 through Aug. 1. Alas, he's been touched up for nine runs in his past nine appearances, including six runs in his past two outings. It might be time to demote him back to low leverage until he regains command of the strike zone.

Jose Urquidy pitched well in the bulk role for the Sox, allowing one earned run on three hits over five innings of relief. That saves the bullpen for the next series.

Up next for the Sox: four games in Houston, starting Monday night against the Astros.

Happy Fourth of July from The Baseball Kid

 

White Sox (finally) win a road series

The White Sox on Tuesday clinched their first road series win since the first weekend in May, beating the Baltimore Orioles, 9-3, at Camden Yards.

The victory comes on the heels of an 8-2 win on Monday, and it moves the Sox to 17-25 on the road. This team has been strong at home, as evidenced by a 28-14 record at Rate Field, but they really do need to find more wins on the road.

Consider this a good first step. The last road series win was May 1-3 at San Diego, so the Sox were due.

On Tuesday, they scored seven runs in the third inning. The key hits were a two-run homer by Colson Montgomery, a two-run single by Jacob Gonzalez and a three-run homer by Junior Perez.

Gonzalez has been on a rampage of late. In this game, he was 3 for 5 with three RBIs. Over his past six games, he's 11 for 24 with a homer and 10 RBIs.

He's not Munetaka Murakami, but Gonzalez has done a respectable job of filling in at first base for the Japanese slugger, who has been out since May 29 with a hamstring strain.

Once Murakami comes back from the injured list, I've heard some Sox fans suggest that Gonzalez will be a "trade chip" to acquire help for the pitching staff.

While I agree that pitching help is needed, I think it would be prudent to keep Gonzalez. Did we learn nothing from the Rick Hahn-era White Sox? Gonzalez can play literally every spot on the infield, and he's a great insurance policy should the Sox have another injury sometime in 2026 -- and we all know injuries happen over 162 games.

Right now, the Sox have more decent hitters than spots in the lineup. That's the first time we can say that in years. Let's keep it that way.

Erick Fedde (3-6) picked up the win Tuesday night, allowing three runs over five innings. Tyler Schweitzer worked four scoreless innings for his first career save.

This marks the first time the Sox have had a reliever pitch four innings for a save since Matt Ginter on May 7, 2002. 

Unfortunately for Schweitzer, I think he's likely headed back to Triple-A to make room for Noah Schultz's return to the roster Wednesday. Schultz is expected to make the start as the Sox go for the sweep.

The Sox finish June with a 13-12 record, on the heels of their 18-10 record in May. This is notable because the Sox haven't had back-to-back winning months since the 2021 season, when they last won the American League Central.

The Sox are 45-39 overall, and they'll take a two-game lead in the AL Central into July. 

Lopsided loss to Yankees slows down White Sox good vibes

By any objective measure, the White Sox just completed their most impressive homestand of the season -- and maybe their most impressive homestand in several years.

They won both games of a rain-shortened series against the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves, and they took two out of three from the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

That's a 4-1 record against perhaps the two best teams in baseball. The Sox are 20-4 in their last 24 home games. They've beaten good teams, bad teams and mediocre teams during that stretch. The vibes are good at Rate Field.

Too bad the good vibes aren't traveling with the Sox, who had a rough start to a six-game road trip Tuesday night. The New York Yankees, who have the best record in the American League, stomped the Sox, 12-2 in the Bronx.

The Sox are 24-12 at home, which pencils out to an outstanding .667 winning percentage. But after this latest loss, they are 14-21 on the road -- a .400 winning percentage. Not great. 

What's the difference? Run prevention.

At home, the Sox have a team ERA of 3.41. On the road, they entered Tuesday's play with a 5.30 ERA. After this debacle with the Yankees, that figure is up to 5.49, if my math is correct.

The defense isn't helping. Tuesday's third inning was a case in point. The game was tied at 1 through two innings, and there were no signs that the Sox were in any sort of trouble. But it spiraled very quickly after back-to-back misplays.

It all started when New York catcher J.C. Escarra beat a shifted defense with a check-swing roller into left field. Escarra stretched the single into a double, but he should have been out at second base. Sox left fielder Sam Antonacci got the ball to second base in time, but Chase Meidroth missed the tag.

Anthony Volpe followed with what looked like a routine grounder to Meidroth, but for some reason, Sox first baseman Jacob Gonzalez forgot to the cover the bag. It was ruled an "infield single."

There should have been two outs and nobody on. Instead, the Yankees had runners on first and third with nobody out. By the time that inning was over, Sox pitcher Davis Martin (9-3) had thrown 40 pitches, and the Yankees led 5-1.

New York tacked on six more runs in the fourth inning against a tiring and flustered Martin and reliever Chris Murphy, and the rout was on.

By no means is Martin without blame in this situation. He had given up three home runs in 13 starts and 78.1 innings prior to Tuesday's game. In this start, he gave up three homers in 3.1 innings. His ERA swelled from 2.41 to 3.31. It was brutal, and a poor outing on the big stage in the Bronx (perhaps wrongfully) weakens his case to make the All-Star team.

But it all started with bad defense. On the road, against good offenses, in tough environments, you can't afford to give an opponent five outs in an inning. The Sox have done that a fair amount away from home this season, and it's contributing to the bad road record.

That said, the Sox are 38-33, and they remain percentage points ahead of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central race. They are weathering this difficult stretch of schedule against elite teams nicely. You just hope to see a crisper performance Wednesday night. 

Braden Montgomery provides White Sox with latest signature moment

I wrote on May 5 that it might be good for the White Sox if outfield prospect Braden Montgomery made it to Chicago quickly.

Montgomery did just that, making his major league debut Tuesday night against the Atlanta Braves at Rate Field.

The early returns have been excellent. Montgomery is 4 for 9 with two doubles, a home run, two runs scored and three RBIs in his first two games -- both Sox wins over the best-in-baseball Braves (45-23).

Montgomery was the reason the Sox won Tuesday night. With two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning and the Sox trailing 5-4, he rescued the team with a two-run, walkoff homer against Atlanta closer Raisel Iglesias. The Sox prevailed, 6-5.

It's worth noting that even after that homer, Iglesias has a 1.21 ERA. He hadn't allowed a home run all season until Montgomery took him deep, and that one swing doubled his runs allowed in 2026 from two to four.

So, yes, Montgomery got it done against a quality relief pitcher.

What would he do for an encore? Well, he went 2-for-4 with doubles from both sides of the plate in a 2-1 win over the Braves on Wednesday. His first double, against future Hall of Famer Chris Sale, started a two-run rally in the fourth inning that provided the Sox all the runs they would need.

Davis Martin tossed six shutout innings to improve his record to 9-2. 

The Sox have now won 18 for their last 21 games at Rate Field to improve their season home record to 22-11. The road record still kinda stinks at 14-20, but overall the Sox are 36-31.

After Thursday night's rainout, they maintain a half-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central Division. This marks the first time the Sox have been in first place since the end of the 2021 season.

Also, the Sox have been providing the home fans with some signature moments in extra innings recently.

Three times within the past month, they've trailed by a run in the bottom of the 10th inning and ended up winning because somebody hit a two-run homer: Edgar Quero on May 17 against the Chicago Cubs, Miguel Vargas on May 29 against the Detroit Tigers, and now Montgomery on June 9 against the Braves.

I'm not sure the past three years combined produced three endings like those. 

Munetaka Murakami named AL Rookie of the Month for May

White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami has been named the American League Rookie of the Month for May.

Murakami batted .244/.382/.556 with eight home runs and 18 RBIs for the month, during which the Sox went 18-10. 

The last Sox rookie to win the award was Yermin Mercedes, of all people, in April 2021.

The only downside to this is Murakami ended the month by suffering a Grade 2 hamstring on May 30, which will keep him out four to six weeks.

So far, Murakami has missed five games, and the Sox have gone 3-2. But the road is about to get much harder: Chicago's next 12 games are against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Atlanta Braves, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees.

The Dodgers, Braves and Yankees are probably the three best teams in baseball. All four of those clubs have aspirations of a deep postseason run.

This will be a big test for the Sox to see if they can hold their ground in the AL standings.

White Sox 8, Twins 0

Erick Fedde (1-5) tossed five shutout innings to pick up his first win of the season as the Sox salvaged the finale of a three-game set at Minnesota on Wednesday afternoon. 

Sam Antonacci went 4 for 4 and reached base in all six of his plate appearances. He had two doubles, two singles, a walk, an HBP, two runs scored and an RBI.

Andrew Benintendi went 2 for 3 with three walks and his sixth home run of the season. Jacob Gonzalez went 2 for 4, including a two-run single that highlighted a four-run top of the first inning that gave the Sox all the runs they would need.

The Sox are 33-29. They remain in second place in the AL Central, 2.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians. They also occupy the second of three wild card spots in the AL. 

David Sandlin's second start goes poorly vs. Twins

David Sandlin's first major league start against the Minnesota Twins couldn't have gone better last week. What would he do for an encore Monday night? 

Well, I'm sorry to report Sandlin's second outing was pretty much a disaster. Five days after limiting the Twins to only one hit over six innings, this time the White Sox rookie right-hander got hit around for eight earned runs in four-plus innings.

The Sox saw their five-game winning streak come to an end with a 9-6 loss at Target Field. 

What was different for Sandlin (1-1) this time? Walks and a lot of traffic on the bases. In his previous outing, he retired the final 18 batters he faced and never threw a single pitch out of the stretch. He walked nobody. On Monday, Sandlin walked four and surrendered eight hits. He was on his heels in almost every inning he pitched.

Despite the high score, believe it or not, this was a 1-1 game into the bottom of the fourth. That's when Minnesota's No. 9 batter, Tristan Gray, took Sandlin deep for a two-out grand slam that made the score 5-1.

That could have been a fatal blow to the Sox, but they answered quickly with three runs in the fifth. Miguel Vargas hit a two-run homer, and Andrew Benintendi followed with a solo homer to make it 5-4.

Suddenly, Sandlin had a new lease on life. Alas, he loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fifth on a single and two walks. That would be the end of his night, and Tyler Davis allowed all three of his inherited runners to score -- plus one more run -- and the Twins were in full control of the game at 9-4 headed to the sixth inning.

The score stayed that way until the ninth inning, when Vargas delivered his second two-run homer of the night to make it 9-6. However, the Sox could get no closer.

Vargas is up to 15 homers, tied with Colson Montgomery for second on the team, but poor pitching doomed the Sox on this night.

The Sox are 32-28. They fall 1.5 games back of the idle Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central. 

Munetaka Murakami injured, but White Sox sweep Tigers

White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami will miss four to six weeks with a Grade 2 hamstring strain, which he suffered Friday night in a game against the Detroit Tigers at Rate Field.

It's not great news, especially knowing June features perhaps the toughest stretch of schedule the Sox will face all season long -- including games against the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians.

However, the Sox survived Murakami's absence just fine over the weekend, sweeping the series from the last-place Tigers. Here's a look back at the weekend that was:

Friday, May 29

White Sox 4, Tigers 3, 10 innings.  Miguel Vargas got a high changeup from Detroit reliever Drew Anderson and cranked a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to turn a 3-2 Tigers lead into a 4-3 Sox victory.

The Sox trailed 2-1 from the third inning until the bottom of the ninth, when they scratched across the tying run against Detroit reliever Kyle Finnegan. Back-to-back singles by Andrew Benintendi and Tristan Peters placed runners at first and third with one out.

Rikuu Nishida's safety squeeze bunt was fielded by Finnegan, and while he looked at Benintendi, he didn't force the Sox baserunner to go back to third. As soon as Finnegan threw to first to retire Nishida, Benintendi broke for the plate, and he slid safely ahead of a throw from Detroit first baseman Spencer Torkelson to tie the game.

The Tigers took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 10th, with a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly, but Anderson failed to make the lead stick. Detroit went 6-22 in the month of May. That team is finding new ways to lose. 

Saturday, May 30

White Sox 7, Tigers 1. There wasn't as much drama in this game, as the Sox scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning and led from start to finish.

Sox starter Anthony Kay (5-1) made the lead stick through the first half of the game by pitching five innings of one-run ball. The South Siders blew the game wide open late, with two runs in the seventh inning and three more in the eighth.

Edgar Quero, Colson Montgomery and Benintendi all homered in the late innings to help put the game away. Quero went 2 for 3 with a sacrifice fly, and he's pulled his batting average up to .196 after an absolutely terrible start to the season.

The Sox got four innings of scoreless work from their bullpen. Grant Taylor entered with two men on and no outs in the top of the sixth. He stranded both runners, and then struck out the side in the seventh. Seranthony Dominguez tossed a scoreless eighth. Trevor Richards mopped up in the ninth.

Sunday, May 31

White Sox 2, Tigers 1. Detroit starter Keider Montero cruised through the first six innings, needing only 65 pitches as he held the Sox scoreless on two hits. But then the Tigers took him out of the game and put in ... Anderson.

Thank you very much.

The Sox handed Anderson his second loss of the series by collecting four straight hits in the bottom of the seventh. Montgomery hit his 15th homer of the season to tie the game at 1. Chase Meidroth, Jacob Gonzalez and Peters followed with three straight singles, the last of which scored Meidroth and put the Sox ahead to stay at 2-1.

Bryan Hudson covered four outs, and then Tyler Davis retired two batters in the top of the ninth to earn his first save as a member of the Sox. 

The Sox are 21-10 in their last 31 games and 32-27 for the season. The Guardians lost two of three to the Boston Red Sox over the weekend, which moves the Sox within one game of Cleveland in the AL Central.

Next up, three games in Minneapolis against the Minnesota Twins. 

White Sox win 3 of 4 in series with Twins

The White Sox came tantalizingly close to sweeping their four-game series with the Minnesota Twins this week at Rate Field.

Better execution in the bottom of the 10th inning Tuesday night would have gotten the ghost runner home. Alas, it was not to be, and the Sox dropped that one.

However, I don't think we're in any position to complain about taking three of four from the Twins, and the Sox accomplished exactly that with a 6-2 win on Thursday afternoon.

Davis Martin (8-1) continued his mastery with six innings of one-run ball. He allowed only two hits, while striking out five and walking two.

Sox hitters tagged Minnesota starter Simeon Woods Richardson (0-7) for five earned runs over 2.2 innings. A four-run third inning proved decisive, highlighted by a two-out, three-run double by Randal Grichuk.

Some other notes after Thursday's victory:

• The Sox are now 10-1 in the 11 games Martin has started. His season ERA is 2.00. Nine of his 11 starts are quality starts, and he's given either no runs or just one run in eight of his starts.
• Grichuk has appeared in 18 games since signing with the Sox on May 4. He's batting .333 with four homers and 13 RBIs. He's slugging .694 with a 1.063 OPS in 38 plate appearances.
• The Sox have won nine of their past 10 games against the Twins, dating back to last season. They have outscored Minnesota 75-32 over that same span. Not bad considering the Sox went 1-12 against the Twins as recently as 2024. 

The Sox are 29-27, three games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central. They host the Detroit Tigers for a three-game series over the weekend. We'll talk about that series here on Monday. 

White Sox pitcher David Sandlin dominates Twins in MLB debut

David Sandlin's first major league start probably couldn't have started much worse. The second pitch of his career got knocked out the park by Minnesota's Byron Buxton.

After that? Sandlin probably couldn't have done much better. He was outstanding, retiring the next 18 batters he faced to earn his first career victory as the White Sox throttled the Twins, 15-2, on Wednesday at Rate Field.

Yesterday, I said Sandlin would probably go five innings or 75 pitches, whichever came first. Ha! Shows what I know.

The 25-year-old right-hander needed only 61 pitches to get through six innings. He struck out four, walked nobody and threw 41 of those 61 pitches for strikes. He got seven swing-and-misses, and his fastball topped out at 99 mph. When Sandlin walked off the mound after the top of the sixth, he left with a comfortable 9-1 lead.

There are few Sox debuts this successful. Even a cynical fan like me thought this performance was awesome.

The Sox offense had a great game, too, as they pummeled Minnesota pitching for 15 runs on 18 hits. They had two five-run innings, one in the fifth and one in the seventh.

The seventh inning featured back-to-back home runs by Chase Meidroth and Munetaka Murakami. For Meidroth, it was his fifth homer of the season and first career grand slam. For Murakami, the solo shot was his 20th homer of the season. That leads the American League, and it's the most home runs by a rookie before June in MLB history.

Murakami has homered in all three games of this Minnesota series. On Wednesday, he was 2 for 4 with three runs scored. There's really no question that his addition has completely changed the complexion of the Sox lineup.

Sam Antonacci went 3 for 4 with two runs scored and three RBIs, including a two-run single in the second inning that erased the early 1-0 Minnesota lead and put the Sox ahead to stay. Randal Grichuk was 3 for 5 with two RBIs.

Meidroth, Colson Montgomery and Tristan Peters also had two-hit games for the Sox, who improve to 28-27, maintain second place and stay 3.5 games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central.

Game 4 of this series is Thursday afternoon, with the Sox hoping for a series win, and the Twins looking to salvage a split. 

White Sox call up David Sandlin; Noah Schultz hits the IL

The White Sox have called up right-handed pitching prospect David Sandlin, and he will make the start Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins at Rate Field.

Sandlin, 25, was acquired along with Jordan Hicks in an offseason trade with the Boston Red Sox. He dealt with a sore forearm in spring training, and he has been ramping up in the minor leagues after recovering from the early-season injury.

He has a 0.75 ERA across four outings with Triple-A Charlotte, the last of which lasted four innings. We should not expect Sandlin to pitch deep into the ballgame Wednesday night. It will probably be 75 pitches or five innings, whichever comes first.

Sandlin takes the roster spot of Noah Schultz, who has been placed on the injured list with right knee patella tendinitis. This is the same injury the 22-year-old lefty dealt with in 2025, when he was limited to 17 games and 73 innings.

Schultz has struggled as of late. He's 0-3 with a 9.87 ERA over his past four starts. Worse, he's walked 10 batters in 17.1 innings over that same span. Schultz had the reputation of a strike-thrower during his time in the minor leagues, so the mounting walks have been a head-scratcher.

Perhaps he was pitching at less than 100%, and if so, he shouldn't be pitching. We'll see if Sandlin, who has a high-90s fastball, can fill the gap in the short run.

Twins 5, White Sox 3 (11 innings)

Brooks Lee's 3-run double in the top of the 11th inning off Tyler Davis (2-2) allowed the Twins to take the second game of the four-game series Tuesday at Rate Field.

After getting ahead 0-2 in the count with two fastballs with the bases loaded and one out, Davis tried to trick Lee with splitter, and it did not work. 

The Sox were fortunate to get the game into extra innings. They managed only three hits off Minnesota starter Joe Ryan through the first seven innings. However, with the Twins leading 2-0, Rikuu Nishida singled to open the eighth inning, and one out later, Munetaka Murakami hit his 19th home run of the season to even the score at 2.

In the bottom of the 10th, the Sox had their chance. They had runners on first and third with one out for Murakami, but he hit a one-hopper right at Minnesota first baseman Josh Bell that resulted in an inning-ending double play.

That set the stage for Lee to deliver the decisive hit that made the score 5-2. In the bottom of the 11th, the Sox got their ghost runner home on an RBI single by Chase Meidroth, but that was as close as they could get.

The Sox are 27-27, 3.5 games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central.

Rikuu Nishida debuts; White Sox beat Twins

Before the start of a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins, the White Sox on Monday promoted all-purpose player Rikuu Nishida from Triple-A Charlotte.

Nishida, 25, who was born in Japan and played college baseball at the University of Oregon, was selected by the Sox in the 11th round of the 2023 MLB draft.  

He began this season at Double-A Birmingham and quickly earned a promotion to Charlotte, where he was batting .347/.454/.395 with a home run, 10 RBIs and nine stolen bases in 33 games.

It was an eventful MLB debut for Nishida on Monday, as he batted ninth and played right field for the Sox in their 3-1 victory over the Twins.

He collected his first major league hit, going 1 for 3 with a single, and recorded seven putouts in the outfield. Perhaps most impressively, he provided the best defensive play of the game. Nishida threw Orlando Arcia out at the plate to end the top of the second inning, after Minnesota's Alex Jackson had singled to right field.

The play kept the score tied at 1 at the time and got Sox starter Anthony Kay (4-1) out of the only jam he was in all afternoon.

Speaking of Kay, has anyone noticed that he's been the second-best starter on the Sox lately? The left-hander is now 3-0 with a 1.98 ERA across five May starts after he tossed six innings of one-run ball against the Twins.

Brooks Lee homered in the first inning for Minnesota, but that was the only run the Twins could manage all day.

Meanwhile, the Sox hit two home runs in the first two innings off Minnesota starter Zebby Matthews (1-2), and that was the difference in the game.

Munetaka Murakami hit his team-leading 18th home run of the season in the first inning -- a solo shot that tied the game at 1. In the second inning, Tristan Peters worked a leadoff walk and scored when Drew Romo hit his fifth homer of the year. The two-run blast put the Sox ahead 3-1 and capped the scoring for the day early.

The Sox got scoreless innings of relief from Grant Taylor, Bryan Hudson and Seranthony Dominguez, with Dominguez earning his 11th save of the season.

The Sox are 27-26, 3.5 games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central. 

Memorial Day 2026

Make it a safe and reflective one.

 

 

White Sox catcher Kyle Teel out another 3-6 weeks

White Sox catcher Kyle Teel will miss another three to six weeks after spraining the lateral collateral ligament is his right knee Saturday while playing in a rehab game with Triple-A Charlotte.

Teel has not played a game with the Sox yet this season after suffering a Grade 2 hamstring strain on March 10, during a game in which he was representing Italy in the World Baseball Classic.

Coming into the 2026 season, we expected catching to be a Sox strength, with both Teel and Edgar Quero coming off respectable rookie years in 2025.

Instead, it's been one of the weaker position groups. Sunday's performance notwithstanding, it's been a terrible start for Quero. Here's a look at what the Sox have gotten from their catchers heading into Monday's game against the Seattle Mariners:

• Quero: .176/.264/.220, 1 HR, 1 2B, 10 RBIs, 28 Ks, 9 BBs
• Drew Romo: .184/.340/.553, 4 HRs, 2 2Bs, 7 RBIs, 10 Ks, 8 BBs
• Reese McGuire: .172/.273/.172, 0 HR, 0 2B, 3 RBIs, 9 Ks, 2 BBs (given his release) 

At least Romo is hitting for power. It seems the coaching staff trusts him more than Quero at this point, because Romo was in the starting lineup Monday against the Mariners -- even after Quero walked off the Cubs on Sunday.

And rightfully so. Romo has outplayed Quero over the past few weeks. But this is still a lineup hole that could cause the Sox a problem until Teel returns -- if he returns.

We probably won't see him until July at this point. 

Edgar Quero walks off Cubs; Sox complete 7-2 homestand

Rate Field on May 13. (Photo by Jason Bauman)

Struggling White Sox catcher Edgar Quero picked the ideal time for his first home run of the season.

Quero, who entered Sunday's game against the crosstown Cubs batting .151 with a .163 slugging percentage, picked on the first pitch he saw from Ryan Rolison in the bottom of the 10th inning and smacked it over the wall in left-center for a two-run homer to give the Sox a 9-8 victory over the hated and despised North Siders.

The Sox took two out of three over the weekend at Rate Field, picking up their first series victory over the Cubs since 2022. 

It was hard-earned.

Sox starter Erick Fedde didn't have good stuff. He needed 84 pitches to get through the first three innings, and after allowing the first two Cubs batters to reach base in the top of the fourth, he was mercifully removed from the game.

Fedde's final line: three innings pitched, six hits, four runs (all earned), four walks, two strikeouts. Fortunately, the Sox only trailed 4-1 headed to the bottom of the fourth. With the traffic the Cubs had on the bases, it easily could have been 7-1.

Instead, the Sox remained within striking distance. They scored one in the fourth, and then tied the game at 4-4 in the fifth on a two-out, two-run double by Miguel Vargas.

Meanwhile, the Sox bullpen held the line. Sean Newcomb tossed two scoreless innings. Grant Taylor tossed two scoreless innings. Bryan Hudson pitched out of a second-and-third, one-out jam in the eighth to keep it at 4-4.

In the bottom of the eighth, Tristan Peters took his shot at being the unlikely hero. With two outs, he connected for his first MLB homer off Cubs reliever Phil Maton. It was a 3-run shot that gave the Sox a 7-4 lead going to the top of the ninth.

That should have been the decisive blow, but alas, Seranthony Dominguez has been an adventure as Sox closer. And he had another misadventure Sunday.

Alex Bregman walked to lead off the top of the ninth. After Ian Happ struck out, Seiya Suzuki reached on a two-base throwing error by Vargas that placed runners on second and third.

When a multi-run lead is blown, usually walks and errors are part of it. Dominguez fell behind in the count, 3-1, to Michael Conforto, and the Cubs outfielder blasted the next pitch out to center for a 3-run homer to tie the game at 7-7.

The Sox left two runners on base in the bottom of the inning, sending the game to extras. The Cubs got their ghost runner across against reliever Tyler Davis (2-1), with Bregman picking up the RBI on a slowly hit grounder to short.

But Davis did a good job of preventing further damage and gave the Sox a chance in the bottom of the inning.

After Andrew Benintendi's sacrifice bunt moved ghost runner Chase Meidroth over to third, the struggling Quero delivered perhaps the biggest hit of his career thus far, sending those dressed in black in the crowd into a frenzy.

The Sox are 24-22, one game back of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central. For the homestand, the South Siders went 7-2, winning two of three from the Seattle Mariners and sweeping the Kansas City Royals prior to the Cubs series.

I made it to Rate Field for the middle game of the Kansas City series, after a co-worker who is a Royals fan invited me to the game. I took the above photo in the bottom of the eighth inning that night, with Munetaka Murakami at the plate.

As you can see, the fans haven't really come back from these past three miserable seasons. Sure, all these games against the Cubs were sellouts, but all the losing and lousy Jerry Reinsdorf ownership has hit everybody hard.

But maybe more homestands like this will slowly rejuvenate interest in this team. There's a lot of baseball left to be played, and it's a long road back to relevance. But punking the Cubs is one way for the Sox to get a little more mention on the sports talk shows and in the national press.