Colson Montgomery's clutch bat helps secure first win over O's since 2024

BALTIMORE -- Colson Montgomery delivered a go-ahead RBI double and Sean Burke wiggled out of trouble into the sixth inning as the White Sox began a key seven-game road trip with an 8-2 win over the Orioles on Monday night at Camden Yards.

To begin this season, the talk again has been the power display from Montgomery, who reached 20 homers in his first 275 at-bats for the second consecutive season. Last year, he hit No. 20 in his 247th at-bat during his impressive rookie season.

But in the top of the eighth inning against Baltimore, the White Sox shortstop came up with a different kind of extra-base hit that broke a 2-2 deadlock, driving a Grant Wolfram slider deep to center field that bounced up against the wall. The relay home was not in time to get a sliding Sam Antonacci, and the White Sox led, 3-2.

“There's always something to contribute,” manager Will Venable said. “Colson's a great example where maybe not feeling his best the last couple of days, grinding and doing everything he can to do his job there. And he came through in a big way.”

Randal Grichuk smacked a line drive to center for an RBI single. Montgomery appeared to be tagged out at home plate on Colton Cowser’s 96.6 mph relay throw, but catcher Adley Rutschman dropped the ball and Montgomery was safe for a 4-2 lead.

The South Siders poured it on with a four-run ninth, highlighted by four straight hits alternating singles and doubles.

Jacob Gonzalez’s two-run single made it 6-2. Kyle Teel’s ground ball went through the legs of third baseman Blaze Alexander and scored two more. Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored.

Right-hander Grant Taylor came on to throw two scoreless innings and left-hander Brandon Eisert put down the Orioles in order in the ninth with three strikeouts, the last one to Alexander a called third strike on an ABS challenge.

“It’s some of the stuff that we’ve said all year,” Montgomery said. “Everyone is very capable of coming up clutch, I guess you could say, of getting the job done, driving a guy in.

“Even my at-bat, I think [Miguel] Vargas having that [11-pitch] AB [ahead of me], that’s what also led to me being able to put something in play just because he’s grinding his butt off, making the guy throw his best pitches and then he leaves something over the plate for me.”

The White Sox (44-39) are five games above .500 and notched only their third win over the Orioles in 21 games since April 2023. They were even swept in Chicago in April and had lost nine straight to Baltimore since their last win in September 2024. So what gives now?

“If you look back to earlier in the season, we were in a lot of these games,” Montgomery said. “There were a lot of these games where it kind of came down to one inning, situational baseball, bullpen play or whatever it was. We’re just getting more and more polished each day we play and each time we get into these situations.”

Burke also did his job in the series opener by not allowing an Orioles breakout as he struck out a hitter to end each of the first five innings.

“It gets the whole team fired up, and I feel like we can go off of that momentum,” Teel said of the inning-ending K’s. “It not only affects me, but it affects our bats. A big strikeout like that, I feel like we get into the dugout fired up and ready to go on offense.”

Burke was also helped out with an outstanding defensive play by center fielder Tristan Peters in the fourth.

With one out, Orioles right fielder Dylan Beavers ripped a long fly ball to deep right-center field. On the dead run, Peters crashed into the wall to make the catch and rob Beavers of extra bases and an O’s lead.

Burke logged 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks to go with eight strikeouts. He threw 89 pitches, 64 for strikes.

“I think the stuff feels good,” Burke said. “I think there's a communication with Teel, the communication with coaches is really, really good. I like the game plan we had going in. When we started up like that, we know the stuff is going to be good.

“I think a couple of adjustments that I've made early the past couple of weeks have been really helping. And [when] we come with a good game plan, it’s just on me to execute it."