CHICAGO (AP) — White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery set the season record for strikeouts with 224 when he was set down looking in the fifth inning of Chicago’s game against the Colorado Rockies on Friday night.
The left-handed-batting Montgomery struck out on a 3-2 count against right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano for the second out of the fifth. He didn't take the bat off his shoulder on Sugano's 93.3 mph fastball down the middle.
The 24-year-old Montgomery
reached the dubious mark in his in his 631st plate appearance and 561st at-bat of his second season.
Montgomery surpassed Mark Reynolds’ record of 223 K’s, set in 2009 when Reynolds made 662 plate appearances with Arizona in his third season in the majors. Reynolds batted .260 that year with 44 homers, 102 RBIs and 24 stolen bases.
Montgomery entered Friday batting .200 with 31 homers and 87 RBIs. He he had 112 hits and 54 walks, and was batting eighth against Colorado.
In his last 20 games entering Friday, Montgomery was batting .088 with 36 strikeouts in 79 plate appearances. He had six hits, including two homers and two doubles, in that span, along with eight RBIs and seven walks.
The White Sox clinched a playoff berth on Thursday with a 9-1 win at Kansas City, becoming the first team to reach the postseason following consecutive 100-loss seasons. They entered Friday one game behind AL Central-leading Cleveland.
Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber has struck out 218 times.
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