In his postgame interview on Peacock today, Colson Montgomery was asked how the White Sox withstood a nine-K start from Toronto star Trey Yesavage to eventually break through and bounce him from the game: “Just be relentless.”
As is the wont of a rare national interviewer, that chat quickly came around to asking about the terrific chemistry of the White Sox clubhouse, and Colson offered up youth as the excuse, essentially saying that the players are all pretty much in the same place in their careers,
experiencing things for the first time, and … fearless.
Being young, dumb and full of slug has benefited the White Sox thus far, and with a 3-0 win in the series finale remain in first place as they head with momentum to Texas, once again at a season-high six games better than .500.
Colson got the postgame shine but it was pitching that continued as the theme of this weekend up north, as Sean Burke and the White Sox outlasted Yesavage and the Blue Jays. Everything that Malachi Hayes laid out about Burke in the game thread today came to pass, and then some. The ascendant ace carved though the Toronto lineup, only punching out two Jays for the bulk of his game (he picked up another three late) but consistently crossing up hitters and inducing soft contact. All but one of the four hard hits Burke gave up in the game landed in White Sox gloves for outs, and you’ll take an 84.7 mph average exit velo any day of the week.
Burke pitched into the seventh, exiting after yielding only his second hit of the game — and first to leave the infield. From there, the well-rested White Sox pen employed two of its most devastating tools, Bryan Hudson and Grant Taylor, to finish what Burke had started.
The White Sox offense was a little soft on slug today, chiseling a run to draw blood in the fourth that was grindy as hell. Munetaka Murakami walked, Miguel Vargas forced him out at second but then scampered to third on Colson’s single. From there, it was Andrew Benintendi with another good at-bat (he was aces this game and had the second-most WPA among Pale Hose hitters), lofting a sac fly to ensure that three baserunners in the inning against the stingy Yesavage wouldn’t be wasted:
Slug reared its fearsome head with two outs in the sixth, as Colson thrwarted Yesavage’s game plan by refusing to bite on two 94 mph strikes inside and fouling another off before pouncing on a splitter that stayed together enough to groove over too much of the plate. Though Colson claimed postgame he was in two-strike protect move, the youngster has enough raw power to turn protection into aggression, launching the ball 388 feet and over the wall with the hardest-hit ball of the day:
Hardest-hit ball of the day, that is, until Braden Montgomery stepped up and battled Yesavage even better, two batters later. After a Benny double the other way put a runner in scoring position with two outs, Braden had an absolutely brilliant at-bat. After almost giving himself completely away waving at more 94 mph cheese up and outside, Braden regathered over the next five pitches by protecting on a fastball up and out of the zone, holding back on a fastball that was close but a smidge too tight, and fighting off two more fastballs in and a splitter with movement low. Then, on the eighth pitch of the sequence, Braden turned on a 95 mph fastball that cut too much plate and slapped it 107.8 mph to center, scoring Benintendi and lobbing another insurance run onto the pile:
There were some nerves in the ninth, as closer Grant Taylor entered and the top of the Toronto order immediately fueled a rally, as Ernie Clement hustled out a single to third and Vargas got picked on a second time with a well-placed bunt single from Nathan Lukes. That brought up Vladimir Guerrero Jr., still yet to homer at Rogers Centre this year but licking his chops at the opportunity for a dramatic first to tie the game. Taylor carved Guerrero inside and Vladdy was first-pitch hunting, resulting in a flare to center that Braden made a superb diving catch and return throw in. Two pitches later, Taylor induced a game-ending 6-4-3 from Kazuma Okamoto to hold serve on first place for at least one more game:
The road trip that starts the second half doesn’t get any easier, as the White Sox line up for three in Arlington against the first-place Rangers beginning tomorrow night.
MVP
Sean Burke (RHSP): 6 2/3 IP, 2 H, BB, 5 K, WIN (7-4), 69-of-98 strikes, 38.3% WPA
Runners-Up
Colson Montgomery (SS): 2-for-4, R, HR, RBI, 2 K, 18.5% WPA
Braden Montgomery (RF): 2-for-4, RBI, 2 K, 6% WPA
Andrew Benintendi (DH): 1-for-2, R, RBI, 2B, BB, SF, 7% WPA
Bryan Hudson (LHRP): 1 1/3 IP, K, HOLD (6), 12-of-15 strikes, 7% WPA
Grant Taylor (RHRP): IP, 2 H, SAVE (4), 7-of-9 strikes, 4% WPA
Cold Cat
Tristan Peters (CF): 0-for-3, 3 K, -6% WPA
Runners-Up
Sam Antonacci (2B): 0-for-4, K, -6% WPA
Miguel Vargas (3B): 0-for-4, R, K, -7% WPA
