Two nights, two wins, one division lead. The White Sox knocked off the Braves 6-5 in 10 innings on Monday when rookie Braden Montgomery walked it off in his MLB debut, then came back Tuesday and ground out a 2-1 win that flipped the AL Central standings. The graphic said it all: first time leading the division since the final day of the 2021 season.
Montgomery's first big-league at-bat ends with a mob at home plate.
You don't script debuts like that. Montgomery gets the call, steps in, and ends the night with a trot. The kids on this roster keep doing this stuff, and the loudest voice in the fan section has been screaming about it for weeks. After the walkoff, White Sox Dave declared the Sox 'officially back,' then admitted he was working a Barstool After Dark event during the actual at-bat — a company man stuck on assignment while his team's prospect made history.
Caught working the After Dark soccer event while Montgomery debuted.
Tuesday's nightcap was a different vibe entirely. Chris Sale on the mound for Atlanta, still painting 99 on the black, drew genuine love from his old fanbase even as they hoped to tag him. Instead it was a 2-1 grinder, closed out with Chase Meidroth and the bullpen sealing it. The lower third on the broadcast confirmed it — first place in the AL Central since 2021.
The closeout, the graphic, and the praise for Chase and the rest of the roster.
It wasn't all clean. Will Venable called himself out a day earlier for over-bunting and then turned around and did it again the very next game, which is the kind of thing that gets noticed once you're in an actual pennant race. JeffDLowe also clocked a different head-scratcher elsewhere on the sports calendar — calling a timeout up 20-plus is the kind of decision that gets you torched in a quote-tweet.
A side-eye at burning a timeout in a blowout.
But none of that wipes out the bigger point. Getz built a core, the core is young, the core is fun, and they're sitting alone at the top. Yasmani Grandal years feel like a different franchise. Two wins over Atlanta and a rookie walkoff later, the South Side has the standings to back up the hype.
A Patrick Bateman smirk for a first-place fanbase.
Don't stop now, boys.