Anaheim – On September 27, 2024, White Sox lost his 121st game of the season, setting a record for the modern era (since 1900), and made the biggest loss in one season. Two consecutive victories to end the campaign, the White Sox ended the year with a terrible 41-121 record.
On Friday night in Anaheim, the White Sox won the 41st win of the season 6-3, matching their 2024 victory in Game 110. Reaching this mark on August 1 shows the real growth the White Sox organization has seen last year.
“Showing the growth of our beat record matters. I know there are people at the club there and went through it last year,” first-year White Sox manager Will Venable said before Friday's game. “It's not something we're really talking about. Our group internally flipped the pages to everything that happened last year. We certainly understand the importance of winning the total amount of losses. It's certainly important for us as an organization to be separated from this year compared to last year.”
In the 41st win of the season, the White Sox once again relied on a great offense, one of the best offenses in baseball since the All-Star game and another effort by the pitchers.
The White Sox started scoring early in the second inning, when Andrew Benintendi and Lenyn Sosa each hit home runs, which allowed the White Sox to play multiple home runs in the same inning in two straight games. Miguel Vargas and Edgar Quero played home runs in the seventh inning against the Phillies on Wednesday. Chicago's last consecutive game against multiplayer was against the Royals from September 5 to 6, 2023.
In the sixth inning, White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery (the prospect of MLB Pipeline's No. 4 White Sox, 83 overall) exploded a 433-foot home run, beating the midfielder. This lasted a huge game for the 23-year-old, who had his sixth home run in the last nine games after not having national games in his first 14 careers.
Josh Rojas beat Chicago's fourth home run in the ninth inning, and White Sox has tied for a season since July 25 and has given them three such games.
“I think guys are just being aggressive and having a good game plan. The biggest thing I see is sticking to their plans,” Rojas said. “Pick up the court on the edge, called a strike, you don't want it, and stay aggressive in your own position.”
After a tough first half, the White Sox's offense really changed everything. Whether it's like Montgomery, Miguel Vargas, Edgar Quero, Kyle Teel, Chase Meidroth and Sosa, or like Mike Tauchman, Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr.
“I think we did a great job, staying inside ourselves and staying in the middle of the field, which obviously caused some losses,” Venable said.
Since the All-Star break, the White Sox offense has ranked No. 1 in Run (90), Home Run (27) and OPS (.861). Apart from their pitcher’s 3.59 era, the White Sox now scored 9-4, with the Marlins and the Brewers in the second half.
Friday's performance shows that the White Sox are also looking for different ways to win. The pitchers were allowed only three innings, and they also received important help from a pair of defensive innings.
Shane Smith retreated for the first time in the first game of the injury roster, allowing three consecutive runners to enter the base in the first inning. Quero sent out a huge game from behind the board and took the catch at third base to get the first game of Zach Neto. Smith will escape danger and record a first frame without a score.
In the seventh inning, the White Sox was the biggest game in the game. In first and second, the Angels' Nolan Schanuel tear up the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which seems to be the game tying. Tauchman brought the ball into Montgomery, who then took the ball to third base against Gustavo Campero, a second before Travis D'Arnaud could score from second base.
The referee's comments confirmed the drama, maintaining the 4-3 lead after seven innings, a lead they won't give up.