Nice, But—

The White Sox made some baseball history yesterday when they beat the Royals yesterday, 9-1. No other team has ever made the playoffs after two or more seasons of 100-plus losses. The Sox did that three years running. So, it was nice to see David Sandlin pitch like he had a clue, with six innings of one-run ball. The rookie righthander yielded five hits while recording seven strikeouts and not a walk. Please, please, more of that. Speaking of rookies, Sam Antonacci scored three runs and Tristan Peters picked up two RBIs. Braden Montgomery also looks to be coming out of his funk. In his last five games, Montgomery has gone 9-for-20 with four runs scored. See, please, above. Which brings us to the Doug-downer part. Right now, the White Sox have clinched the third AL wild-card spot and are still a game back of the Guardians for first place in the AL Central, with three games to go. Cleveland, which managed two victories against the Red Sox while scoring a total of three runs in three games, now finishes out the season on the road against the Royals while the Sox go home for three against the Rockies. We need to sweep, the Guardians have to lose a game. And while all of that is going on, manager Vibes Venable has to figure out what to do with Colson Montgomery, who has his BA down to .200 and his season-strikeout total up to 223. One more and Montgomery breaks the major-league record. If he plays, he’s going to strike out at least once over the course of three games. If he sits, he misses out on the opportunity to figure things out. But there’s no fixing Montgomery without risking a bit of notoriety. Like the 2024 White Sox, now a team growing ever smaller in the rear-view mirror.