Not half bad: Too many walks, but Sox beat Royals to reach .500
Usually, it's getting to the top of the mountain that merits a celebration.
In the case of the White Sox, reaching the halfway hut was also very special.
The Sox beat Kansas City 6-5 on Wednesday at Rate Field, completing a long, strenuous climb to a .500 record. The Sox are now 21-21, a game and a half behind Cleveland for the AL Central lead.
“You want to see yourself at the top of the division and things like that, just because in our minds, that's where we feel like where we should be,” shortstop Colson Montgomery said. “I think we just keep doing what we're doing.”
On April 16 the Sox traveled to Sacramento for the start of the road trip and it seemed like 100 losses might be inevitable. Since that date, they've produced a 15-8 record, rank second in MLB in OPS, eighth in starter ERA, 10th in bullpen ERA, and their defense has taken giant leaps since last year.
So it's really improvement in every phase that has lifted the Sox so quickly. Then there's the young and energetic style they've embraced. Sam Antonacci turned a routine single into a hustle double in the fourth inning. That play didn't change the outcome, but it was a good example of what's working well on the South Side.
The big hits were a solo home run by Montgomery, 2-run double by Jarred Kelenic and RBI double from Tristan Peters. Every run counted, since Bobby Witt Jr. belted a 2-run homer in the ninth, which left the Royals one short.
“You can just see, everyone is starting to be their true self,” Montgomery said. “I feel like when you're at your full true self, that's when you're most confident. And I think confidence is definitely infectious.
“So I think everyone's just feeding off each other, and no one's afraid to make mistakes. I feel like if you're in that kind of mindset, you play free and easy, and I think everyone's just playing how they want to be playing.”
In his sixth big-league start, left-hander Noah Schultz didn't complete the five innings needed to record a win. He allowed just 2 hits, but walks continued to be an issue.
“I'm just having too many uncompetitive misses, too many four-pitch walks,” Schultz said. “I think I had two or three leadoff walks. Just that's not a way for success. Something that definitely need to clean up.”
Schultz had a nice beginning, facing the minimum nine batters through three innings, then walked the bases loaded to start the fourth. He almost got out of it, but with two outs and two on, Vinny Pasquantino dropped a short pop fly just in front of Team Italy teammate Antonacci in short left. Antonacci dove and the ball hit his glove, but he couldn't hang on and 2 runs scored to make it 3-3.
Schultz gave up just 2 walks in 14 innings at Triple-A Charlotte to start the year, but this was an issue last season, when he averaged 5.5 walks per nine innings between Charlotte and Birmingham. It was less of a problem in 2024, when the walk rate was 2.4 per 9.
“Initially we looked at being like an eyesight thing, starting pitches in the wrong spots,” Schultz said. “I think there's more stuff to look at. I think it could be a front-side thing. There's a few things we're going to look at some video definitely to see.”
The game was delayed briefly in the fourth inning when a fan fell into the visiting dugout. After a couple minutes, the person was wheeled out on a stretcher and the game resumed. The team said the fan was taken to the hospital.