Just Desserts

The White Sox jumped ahead against the Nationals 8-1 after 4-1/2 innings; they deserved to win. Then Jordan Leasure gave up four runs to put Washington up, 9-8, and the Sox truly deserved to lose. No doubt they would have and should have. You shouldn’t win a game after blowing a big lead and letting the other team hit six—I repeat, six—homeruns. But the other team also committed four—I repeat, four—errors. The last one brought up rookie shortstop Colson Montgomery with one out and one on in the top of the ninth. Montgomery put an 0-1 pitch into the rightfield stands for a 10-9 lead that Grant Taylor did not give up. Sox win, 10-9. At this time of year, you look for the little things to keep going. Montgomery provided some last night. He’d gone 0-for-4 to that point, with three strikeouts. Oh, and he connected off Jose Ferrer, a lefty who’d held lefthanded hitters to a batting average in the .180s. It was Montgomery’s fourth homer against lefties in 73 at-bats; he also has four doubles. It’s enough to keep me going.