Montgomery's 1st walk-off in extras for sweep of Halos is 'White Sox baseball'

CHICAGO -- There’s been much talk centered upon a new White Sox brand of baseball for the 2026 season dating back to SoxFest in January.

That talk manifested itself in positive results during the month of April, capped off by a 3-2 victory over the Angels in 10 innings on Wednesday afternoon at Rate Field to complete a three-game sweep of the 12-20 visitors. After a 1-4 run in March, the White Sox finished April at 13-13 to mark their first month at .500 or above with five games played or more since June 2023, when they were also 13-13.

So what is the new style of White Sox baseball, under the guidance of manager Will Venable and constructed by general manager Chris Getz and his front office? Let’s allow the participants to explain.

“It’s what our coaches keep telling us: We are never going to give up or back down until the game is fully over,” said shortstop Colson Montgomery, who delivered his first career walk-off hit with a one-out bases-loaded single off Drew Pomeranz. “I think it’s who we are. We are all going to compete until the end.”

“Just a foundation we want to build and the way we want people to see what White Sox baseball is,” said rookie left fielder Sam Antonacci, whose triple with two outs in the ninth tied the game. “We've been pretty adamant on the way we're starting to establish ourselves and that goes into the way we run the bases, the way we prepare ourselves before games.”

The White Sox certainly have good players across their 26-man roster, but on the flip side, they aren’t going to simply out-talent the opposition. They need to work the counts, draw the free passes, lay down bunts, make the right plays defensively and run the bases aggressively.

Weeks will come around when they hit 16 home runs on a road trip. But it’s a combination of everything to make this burgeoning young crew a success.

“Obviously, we feel like we're in a good spot and have got to continue to do that,” Venable said. “That's just doubling down on the things that have gotten us this far, so that will be the focus, and you just hope to continue to play good baseball.”

“With success and wins, the belief stays there, that even if we're behind late, we can come back and win,” White Sox starter Erick Fedde said. “We're in a good place and it's good to get another win and the sweep.”

Fedde yielded solo home runs to Mike Trout and Vaughn Grissom over seven innings, striking out six without a walk. He still left the game with a 2-1 deficit, which stayed in place until the White Sox flashed their new brand in the ninth against Angels reliever Ryan Jeferjahn.

Tristan Peters was hit on a 1-2 pitch with one out and he swiped second as Jarred Kelenic struck out. Antonacci connected on an 0-1 offering for a triple down the right-field line, pushing off a possible setback for at least one more inning.

“Nothing really changes,” Antonacci said. “It's the same at-bat as the ones before earlier in the game with a little bit more at stake.

“Just knowing that I had a fast runner at second and just needed to get the ball to the outfield, a single ties it with Peters on second with his speed. Just able to see the ball, got a good pitch to hit and made contact.”

Pomeranz elected to walk Miguel Vargas with Chase Meidroth on second to start the 10th, an interesting move considering Munetaka Murakami and his 12 homers were on deck. Murakami connected off Pomeranz for a towering go-ahead homer during Monday’s victory.

Murakami walked in this instance, and one out later, Montgomery delivered the game-winner.

“Today was a slow start,” Montgomery said. “We kept the course, one guy at a time, going up there to compete, doing whatever we can. Especially a young group like us, we fuel and feed off the excitement of walk-offs and wins. It’s good.”

Seranthony Dominguez (2-3) pitched a perfect 10th to earn the victory, going with his seven saves. Jordan Leasure topped the 2025 squad with seven saves for the entire season.

At this point in ‘25, the South Siders stood at 8-23. So, the improvement is only beginning for this new brand of White Sox baseball, or so the team believes.

“Right now, we are just laying a brick every single day and building every single day, and just playing really good ball,” Montgomery said. “Keep feeding off this excitement.”

“There's a lot of belief in this clubhouse,” Fedde said. “If we start sniffing .500 and then get above it, there's no turning back.”