MINNEAPOLIS -- Colson Montgomery homered Monday afternoon at Target Field. It had been one whole plate appearance since he cleared the fences in the sixth inning Sunday at home against the Yankees.
Chase Meidroth, who is Montgomery’s double-play partner at second, also went deep, which the numbers will show is far less likely than Colson. But it was two-out, eighth-inning doubles from Brooks Baldwin and Mike Tauchman that drove the White Sox to a 6-5 victory Monday over the Twins in the series opener.
It was the second straight victory for the White Sox after five straight losses, improving the South Siders to 50-88 on the year. They also jumped to 11-30 during games decided by one run, winning a second straight in that category.
“Yeah, I feel like there's been countless games where it’s been decided by one run,” Montgomery said. “To get one of these, even though we lost the lead too, and we were able to rally back, it kind of just shows we are never out. We’ve got guys who can put the ball in the seats and guys who can hit the ball well.”
“You remember last year, those games were not very encouraging when you’re in them,” said Jordan Leasure, who struck out two over the final four outs and recorded his fifth save. “This year we have a really good group and it’s like, even in those games somebody’s going to pull through so it’s been a lot of fun to just watch it happen and then to be a part of it. It’s super encouraging.”
Montgomery’s power display is more than encouraging. Even without factoring in his early-season struggles for Triple-A Charlotte, it’s overwhelming in the best of ways. He homered in consecutive games for the sixth time this season and homered for a fourth straight game against the Twins (62-75).
His 16 home runs through 47 career games are the second most by a White Sox player to start a career, trailing only Jose Abreu’s 17 in 2014. Montgomery has homered six times in his last seven games, learning from the process leading to the consistent blasts as much as he is from the baseballs clearing the fences.
“What I keep telling myself is if I do have a good at-bat and I don’t get a hit or whatever, it’s like did I get pitches to hit and do damage on them? Was I early? Was I late?” Montgomery said. “Things like that. Even the homers, you don’t really look, yeah, the homers are sick, but it’s more, you see, am I on time, staying committed to my plan.”
“I saw it in Charlotte, so it’s great that he’s having the success because he’s put in a lot of work,” Meidroth said. “From the beginning of the season when we were in Triple-A together, we were playing up the middle and talking about things like this all year, so I’m not surprised… He’s a really good player and a really good hitter.”
Meidroth, who tweaked his right ankle running to first in the sixth and was lifted for pinch-runner Bryan Ramos in the eighth, went 79 plate appearances in between home runs. But according to Montgomery, Meidroth really liked the feeling.
“The little fella, he got it over the fence. That was good,” a smiling Montgomery said. “He came into the dugout and he was like, ‘Dude, homers are sick.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, they are pretty sick.’”
Baldwin’s connection off Justin Topa scored Ramos, making his 2025 White Sox debut, with the tying run. Tauchman followed four pitches later with the winning connection in almost the same spot. The White Sox used seven pitchers, opening with Fraser Ellard, and allowed two unearned runs, but still emerged with the victory.
Venable spoke before the game about playing meaningful baseball in September, even without a great record. That role could be a spoiler for some of their upcoming better competition, but on Labor Day, it was winning a game to start the final month that they probably wouldn’t have won in the season’s first month.
“September is the most important month,” Meidroth said. “Playing and winning games in September is what winning ballclubs do. And so it’s very important, no matter who we’re playing.
“We’re trying to focus on tomorrow and the games right now, and just trying to build and play with each other and string that momentum with each other going into the break. It’s all about the next pitch.”