CHICAGO -- It took until September 11, via a 5-1 thumping of the Rays on Thursday afternoon at Rate Field, but the White Sox have reached .500.
That’s .500, of course, since the All-Star break, at 25-25. But for their impressive resurgence within this latest rebuild, that number certainly matters.
“Our offense has been rolling and we are hoping to keep it going,” said shortstop Colson Montgomery, who drove in the first two runs of Thursday’s victory. “It shows the future of this team and what we are capable of doing.”
“Obviously, that’s a big step forward for us, especially where the record was in the first half,” manager Will Venable said. “Just a testament to these guys and the work they’ve done, and continuing to go out there and fight every day.”
The White Sox (57-90) won for the ninth time in their last 11 games, producing this Major League-best run since defeating the Yankees on Aug. 31. They have won three straight series and are 8-2 in September as they venture to Cleveland for a three-game weekend road trip.
Shane Smith (6-7) earned the win against Tampa Bay with 5 2/3 scoreless innings, four strikeouts and one walk. Since the start of August, the right-hander has allowed 14 earned runs over 44 1/3 innings to go with 41 strikeouts and 16 walks. Smith also put together his seventh scoreless start and allowed four hits or fewer for the 17th time.
Add Smith, who was the top pick in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft, to the list of young players at the core of this White Sox excitement.
“He throws a lot of strikes. Every time he’s on the mound, we should win,” said second baseman Chase Meidroth, who had two hits, two walks, one run scored and one leaping catch. “He’s a No. 1 in this league. He’s really good.”
“I’m happy with today,” said Smith, who threw 98 pitches. “Obviously, you want to strike out 10 and go eight scoreless every time, but that’s obviously not the reality. I see the good and I see the bad.”
Smith pitched out of his biggest trouble spot in the sixth with runners on first and second, none out and Junior Caminero, with his 42 home runs and 106 RBIs, at the plate. But Smith induced a 4-6-3 double-play grounder on a 2-2 sinker to preserve the two-run lead.
Offensive support came from Montgomery’s two-run single in the first, giving the rookie shortstop 47 RBIs over 46 games played since the All-Star break, and the White Sox added three runs in the sixth. Kyle Teel singled home two during that rally as a pinch-hitter, raising his on-base streak to 20 straight games.
This uptick has come with equally important lessons learned. Montgomery pointed out on Thursday how many of the team’s recent wins have been of the comeback variety, but the White Sox also want to get ahead early, which they did in the Rays’ series finale.
With 265 runs scored, Chicago is tied with Philadelphia for third in that category across the Majors since the All-Star break. The White Sox now almost have an expectation built in of scoring runs at some point during the game.
“Hitting can be like a rollercoaster at times,” hitting coach Marcus Thames told MLB.com. “Kudos to the guys really buying into what we’ve been stressing. Our hitters meetings have been really good with guys really doing their homework and coming into the meeting and talking about their approach, and holding each other accountable. That shows maturity of the players.”
“We were hitting the ball well when I was here two or three weeks ago,” White Sox starter Sean Burke said. “Even from then to coming back up now, I can see how much confidence our offense has and the looseness and how comfortable they are out there.”
In the midst of 211 losses since the start of 2024, Chicago has a combined 8-4 ledger vs. Tampa Bay. The latest victory brought the South Siders to the second-half break-even mark, following up a five-game losing streak, but breaking even is far from the ultimate goal for this energized group.
“There’s more to do,” Meidroth said. “We are just trying to build on top of each game and learn how to continue to play together, and build up momentum rolling into next year.”
“It's a good clubhouse to be around,” catcher Korey Lee said. “It's a special time to be a White Sox."