CLEVELAND – When White Sox rookie right fielder Braden Montgomery walked to the plate in the top of the sixth inning of ALD Game 2 on Monday in Cleveland, math was not on his side.
In their free time, the actors prepare for the hunters. It is gentler and more delicate. Platoon advantages are pivotal. Arranging hitters and relievers for optimal combinations is paramount to success.
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Captains Stephen Vogt and Will Venable spent the sixth inning looking for the edge. Cleveland starter Gavin Williams, who struck out 11 over five innings, returned to the mound with a 2-1 lead in the sixth. With left-handed reliever Erik Sabrowski warming up in the bullpen and using dangerous pinch hitter Munetaka Murakami on the deck, Williams’ last task was to give up on Chicago’s top right-handed bat, Miguel Vargas.
For Vargas, the strike gave Chicago the lead runner and ended Williams’ exit on an ominous note.
Sabrowski came in and kept Chicago’s biggest bat on target, a groundout by Murakami that advanced Vargas to second. Then it was Venable’s turn to pinch hit two veteran right-handed bats, Randal Grichuk and Tommy Pham. Grichuk walked. A horrified voice from Sabrowski’s runners advanced to second and third. Pham flew away.
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Then it was Montgomery’s turn. At first glance, the ability to pass the 23-year-old in this position was seen as a benefit, giving Chicago a third consecutive hand against Sabrowski, now with two runners in scoring position. But history has shown otherwise.
Montgomery’s right-sided production dropped off after cutting his left hand during his days as a popular amateur prospect. And when he reached the majors this season, that weakness paid off: Montgomery hit .129/.204/.226 across 103 plate appearances as a righty. His .430 OPS was 169th among 169 straight batters to record at least 100 plate appearances against a batter.
It makes matters worse: Righty bats have also struggled against Sabrowski’s southpaw at the outfield. Only three left-handed hitters (Josh Hader, Jacob Latz, Blake Snell) had a lower OPS than Sabrowski (.510) during the regular season.
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On paper, it would have been tough for the bat to draft more in favor of the pitcher. But this computer simulation was not plausible. This was October baseball in real life.
“Get ready to compete,” Montgomery said later of his mindset. “That’s the end of the day, because numbers are what they are. It’s the past, and so you use those experiences and carve out what you think is best going forward.”
Montgomery hit a fastball on the first pitch. The ball jumped off his bat at 101.4 mph and landed in right field, landing inside the foul line, allowing Vargas and Grichuk to score easily and Montgomery to edge into second base.
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“Seeing the ball go down and knowing you’re in the tank cheering … two ducks,” Montgomery said. “I was just running with the wind. It was special to touch the bag and look in the dugout to see my guys.”
With one swing, Montgomery warmed up to his previous stats and scripted ALDS Game 2 en route to a 4-3 Chicago victory. Math said the inning should be over. The scoreboard said 3-2 White Sox.
To be fair, this wasn’t Montgomery’s first big moment of the year. Four months ago, he became the fifth player in MLB history to hit a walk-off home run in his major league debut. He was an instant highlight for a rookie campaign that proceeded rather rocky; .651 OPS The rest of the way Montgomery posted a. But those struggles — and becoming a passenger on the Chicago rollercoaster ride from a tall building to dominance in October — set the stage for a new feeling on Monday.
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“The first game he came up, I was welcomed and enjoyed every moment,” Montgomery said of his debut. “But I feel like you can’t feel like you’re part of the team at that point, because in the two months I’ve been going up, I’ve had games six days a week. … I don’t know what’s been going on in the clubhouse or how you’ve done it. So I felt more that night.
“Top ten tonight,” he continued, still wearing it hours later. “To have those emotions in him, to be on the road with this team and to be in these games and play the most important baseball of the year. … It’s a feeling like no other. You want to replicate that feeling every night.”
That feeling — missing the ball in the lead — was also something new for Montgomery and his teammates this season. The White Sox were trailing the Wildcats at some point during their game against Houston in the series. In ALDS Game 1, the five pitcher White Sox were shut out 3-0. So when Cleveland jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the game — loaded with bases-loaded errors, no less — it was the first time Chicago played from behind after the third inning of Game 162.
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But these White Sox, undaunted, methodically climbed into the ballgame. They missed a ton-and-a-half against Williams, but they also count on his pitch early. They got on the board in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Murakami. In the half-house, Cleveland evenings remained against the ultimate remix of Chicago’s resources. The great pitcher Sean de Burgh went 5 no-hit (!) innings after entering the third inning. That complete failure led to a heavy hitting keeper on the way to Chicago’s sixth-inning rally, and Chase Meidroth followed up Montgomery’s RBI double with his own RBI hit, scoring what proved to be life insurance for the run.
Once in Game 2, the Cleveland Rams produced a ball of solid substance. After Burke allowed the first hit of the game in the eighth inning, Venable called on Grant Taylor — two days removed from his four-inning save in Game 1 — to face Jo Adell. Cleveland’s DH, 0-for-6 with six strikeouts in the series before entering against Taylor, hit a first-pitch fastball over the left-field wall for an RBI triple that made it one game. Thrown 413 feet, the last ball batted at Progressive Field this season did not go for a home run.
“Stay in the ballpark, I’ll love it,” Taylor recalled thinking when connected with Adell. “Congratulations, he stayed on – got a tall wall there.”
Taylor’s ninth inning ended. Five pitches are needed for the sides to get back in order, a goal to another expiring joint effort quite comfortably by the Rangers offense – or, on the contrary, the stress of gratuitous to another terrible job by the White Sox pitching staff, with Taylor again in the middle of it.
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One week earlier, the White Sox were not guaranteed their home game, falling short of the AL Central title and a first-round bye. But after an improbable stretch of four straight victories to start their career, Chicago will return to Rate Field needing one more way to advance to their first ALCS since the franchise’s 2005 Series run.
“I’m so excited,” Montgomery said. “I can’t put any hope in him. I just know he’s going to be special. I mean, when all the Sox fans here postgame and when they see the excitement they had. … I can only imagine how the South Side is going to go down in two days.
“I can’t wait to see it and be a part of it.”