ANAHEIM -- On Sept. 27, 2024, the White Sox lost their 121st game of the season, setting a Modern Era record (since 1900) for the most losses in a single season. With two straight wins to finish the campaign, the White Sox ended the year with a dreadful 41-121 record.
On Friday night in Anaheim, the White Sox secured their 41st win of this season in a 6-3 victory over the Angels, matching their 2024 win total in their 110th game. Getting to that mark on Aug. 1 shows the real growth the White Sox organization has seen in the last year.
“Showing growth in our win-loss record matters. I know some guys on the club were there and experienced it last year,” first-year White Sox manager Will Venable said before Friday’s game. “It’s not something that we’ve really talked about. Our group internally has turned the page on everything that happened last year. We certainly understand the significance of the win-loss total. For us collectively as an organization, to create separation from last year and this year is certainly important.”
In their 41st victory of the season, the White Sox once again relied on a stellar offense that has been one of the best in baseball since the All-Star break and another strong effort from their pitching staff.
The White Sox started the scoring early in the second inning when Andrew Benintendi and Lenyn Sosa each hit home runs, making it two straight games that the White Sox have hit multiple home runs in the same inning. Miguel Vargas and Edgar Quero hit home runs in the seventh inning against the Phillies on Wednesday. The last time Chicago had consecutive games with multi-homer innings was Sept. 5-6, 2023, against the Royals.
In the sixth inning, White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery (MLB Pipeline’s No. 4 White Sox prospect, No. 83 overall) blasted a 433-foot home run to dead-center field. This continued a torrid stretch for the 23-year-old rookie, who homered for the sixth time in his last nine games after not homering in his first 14 career games.
Josh Rojas crushed Chicago’s fourth home run in the ninth inning, tying a season high for the White Sox and giving them three such games since July 25.
“I think guys are just being aggressive and going in there with a good gameplan. The biggest thing I’ve been seeing is guys sticking to their plan,” Rojas said. “Take the borderline pitches and called strikes you don’t want and staying aggressive in your spot.”
The White Sox offense has really turned things around after a tough first half. Whether it’s youngsters like Montgomery, Miguel Vargas, Edgar Quero, Kyle Teel, Chase Meidroth and Sosa, or veterans like Mike Tauchman, Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr. -- who was perhaps surprisingly not traded before Thursday’s Trade Deadline -- plenty of White Sox hitters have produced at a high level in the second half.
“I thought we did a good job of staying within ourselves and staying to the middle of the field and it obviously resulted in some damage,” Venable said.
Since the All-Star break, the White Sox offense ranks first in runs (90), home runs (27) and OPS (.861). Along with a 3.59 ERA from their pitchers, the White Sox are now 9-4 since the break, tied for the best record in the second half with the Marlins and Brewers.
Friday’s performance showed that the White Sox are finding different ways to win, too. The pitching staff allowed just three runs, and they also received major help from a pair of defensive plays.
In his first start back from the injured list, Shane Smith allowed three straight runners to reach base in the first inning. Quero made a huge play from behind the plate with a pickoff at third base to get Zach Neto for the first out. Smith would escape danger and record a scoreless first frame.
And in the seventh inning, the White Sox had the biggest play of the game. Up 4-3 with two outs and runners on first and second, the Angels’ Nolan Schanuel ripped what appeared to be the game-tying RBI single to right field. Tauchman got the ball into Montgomery, who then got the ball to third base to record the out against Gustavo Campero, just a split second before Travis d’Arnaud could score from second base.
An umpire’s review confirmed the play, keeping it a 4-3 White Sox lead after seven innings, a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.