It wasn’t THAT long ago that the White Sox’ record was at .500. It just feels like it.
The Sox were 2-2 to end March of 2025.
Then they lost eight in a row and finished April at 7-23.
But never mind that now. After beating the Royals 6-5 on Wednesday, the Sox are 21-21. They haven’t been at .500 this late in a season since they finished the 2022 season at 81-81.
So surely, the roar that emanated from the Sox’ clubhouse and could be heard down the hall was in celebration of this achievement in the team’s yearslong rebuild. Surely, that came up amid the hooting and hollering.
“No,” shortstop Colson Montgomery said. “We know we’re in a really good spot. We’re not really looking at the standings because there’s still a lot of baseball left. It’s definitely a good achievement that we can look at right now and see that things are going in the right direction.”
Maybe manager Will Venable, who has been pushing all the right buttons with this team, has a greater appreciation for the accomplishment, having played in the big leagues for nine years, many more than most players on the Sox’ youthful roster have.
“Yeah, for sure,” Venable said in his typical low-key demeanor. “Your record matters, and we want to keep going from here. Obviously, want to keep playing good baseball and just continue to stack good days, and the record will take care of itself.”
Maybe that roar wasn’t from the Sox’ clubhouse. The team’s business-like approach to their play belies the age of its biggest contributors. And on Wednesday, that was Montgomery, who went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, including what turned out to be a much-needed solo homer leading off the seventh inning.
That’s because, after being staked to a 6-3 lead in the ninth, closer Seranthony Dominguez allowed a two-out, two-run homer to Royals star Bobby Witt. Dominguez recovered to fan pinch hitter Jac Caglianone to end it.
“That was a huge run to be able to tack on there,” Venable said. “Gave our bullpen a little bit of breathing room, made the difference in the game.”
“I did my scouting on the guy,” Montgomery said of reliever John Schreiber. “I do scouting on relievers before the game just because of a scenario where I’m leading off the inning and I won’t have much time to look at the guy. I knew where I needed to look and was committed to the fastball, and he threw it there.”
The top of the seventh also loomed large. Reliever Jordan Hicks entered and promptly hit No. 8 batter Isaac Collins and allowed a pinch-hit single to Carter Jensen. That spelled trouble with the Royals’ 1-2-3 hitters coming up.
But Hicks stuck out Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt swinging and caught Lane Thomas looking.
“Really impressive,” Venable said. “Hicksy is feeling really good right now, he’s in a really good spot. There’s been some times where we used him in different spots. For him to come in in that leverage spot there was amazing.”
What wasn’t amazing was starter Noah Schultz’s control — again. He walked five in 4⅓ innings, allowing three runs and two hits and striking out five. But the way the Sox are going lately, they were able to overcome it.
“You can just see everyone is starting to be their true self,” Montgomery said, “and I feel like when you’re your true self, that’s when you’re most confident. I think confidence is infectious. So I think that everyone’s just feeding off each other.”