If the Phillies are scouting Luis Robert Jr. for a trade by Thursday's deadline, they have to like what they saw. Unless they're confident in their read of the player no matter his performance on a given day, and have been waiting for the White Sox to lower their standards.
Robert took over both halves of the fourth inning, laying out to rob J.T. Realmuto of extra bases to open the frame, then flipping a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the fourth to end Cristopher Sánchez's streak of dominance. That held up as the decisive blast thanks to Davis Martin's tightrope-walking abilities and scoreless, hitless work from the White Sox bullpen.
"The first thing I did after the game was give [Robert] a hug, and I'm like, 'Hey, if that's the last game we play together, that was awesome,'" Martin said. "Wherever he goes, he's gonna make an impact, whether that's on our team this year or next year, or if that's somewhere else. He's a phenomenal baseball player, and I don't know how you can't watch him play baseball and think he can't help you win at the highest level."
Sánchez entered the game with nine consecutive quality starts to his name, over which he was 5-1 with a 1.54 ERA, but he ran into a White Sox lineup that has been handling lefties of all shapes and sizes, even ones who stand 6-foot-6. Hitting lefties is how Robert's buoyed his value, so it wasn't necessarily surprising to see him leave the yard, although opposite field was a twist since he hadn't done it since 2023.
"At first I thought I missed it, but I think the wind carried the ball," Robert said via interpreter. "I feel good. Not swinging at the pitches out of the strike zone, and that has been the key."
Seeing Colson Montgomery take Sánchez out the same way the inning before registered as a surprise. He followed up Lenyn Sosa's leadoff single with a no-doubt two-run blast, his fourth in the last six games, which tied the game at 2 and negated a frustrating two-out rally yielded by Martin in the top of the third.
"To foul that ball off, clear him out of there on a fastball in and then stay in there on the slider, just the result of a guy that continues to see the ball and put himself in a good position to take good swings," said Will Venable, on the sequence that saw Montgomery pull a fastball foul before staying on a slider.
Martin opened his start by striking out the side and retiring the first seven he faced, but Max Kepler and Bryson Stott singled with one out to turn over the Philadelphia lineup. Martin struck out Trea Turner for the second time in as many chances, but he walked Kyle Schwarber to load the bases for Bryce Harper, who validated the concept of protection by spanking a 2-2 sinker through the middle for a two-run double.
Martin limited the damage otherwise, although he survived some scares. The fourth was bookended by Robert's diving catch and a warning-track fly by Kepler. A Schwarber walk and a Harper single started a two-out rally in the fifth after a Turner double play seemed to get everything under control, but he managed to kill the rally by smothering Nick Castillo's tapper to the third base side of the mound, doing a barrel roll, then getting to his feet for an on-target throw that beat Castellanos mid-stride.
"I had a mixed review of a lot of guys saying it was the most athletic thing they've ever seen, and the most unathletic thing they've ever seen," Martin said. "Shoutout to coach Brent Davis, our high school football coach and the mat drills. Doing the spin, spin, spin, get up, find your man. So, that's exactly what it was. Spin around, find the target and just let it rip."
Martin departed with two outs in the sixth instead of facing Kepler as the tying run, since Kepler had two hard-hit balls against him. Jordan Leasure was a bold choice, but Leasure induced a routine flyout to left to strand the runner. He then came out for the seventh and issued Schwarber's third walk of the game with two outs, but Harper failed to make the Sox pay this time, popping out on a backdoor 3-2 slider instead.
Steven Wilson opened the eighth with a warning-track fly, but handled the inning without incident. Grant Taylor was already warm when the White Sox extended the lead beyond a save situation, but he's not experienced enough to take larger margins for granted. He retired all three batters, with his four-seam fastball getting strikeouts swinging and looking to end the game.
Bullet points:
*Sosa atoned for his baserunning boner on Sunday with a perfect night at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a walk. He came to the plate with two on and two outs in the eighth after Robert struck out, and smashed Seth Johnson's hanging curve through the middle to make it a 5-2 game.
*Montgomery then hit a hot shot down the first-base line. Harper blocked it with his body, but the carom hit the bag and rolled far enough away for Montgomery to reach with a hustle RBI single. He went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, giving him 16 in 20 games.
*A contact play didn't work in the bottom of the seventh, as Sosa was a dead duck at home plate on a Chase Meidroth grounder, but with runners at second and third, there was no point in not trying it.
*The White Sox only struck out six times in a game started by Sánchez, who tied a career high with 12 strikeouts against Boston his last time out.
*Venable acknowledged the passing of Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg postgame.
"Really sad to see that. Condolences to the Sandberg family. I was able to be around him a little bit in my time with the Cubs. Outstanding human being. Obviously meant a lot to that organization, a lot to this city, a lot to baseball. Really sad day."
