White Sox 6, Braves 5 (10 innings): Braden Montgomery caps MLB debut with walk-off homer

Braden Montgomery hit four homers at Triple-A Charlotte before getting called up to the White Sox this afternoon. All four were from the left side of the plate, and all of them went out the opposite way to left field.

He extended that streak to five consecutive opposite-field homers tonight, and this one just happened to cap off his major league debut with a walk-off blast that snatched a White Sox winner from the jaws of defeat against the best team in baseball.

"That was just surreal, I couldn’t even hear anything," Montgomery said postgame. "This group of guys, this stadium, this city. It’s really cool to see from the outside and now to be a part of it from the inside, it’s awesome."

The White Sox trailed 5-4 and were down to their final out in the 10th after Jacob Gonzalez struck out, and Chase Meidroth could only move Andrew Benintendi to third with his soft groundout to short. Up came Montgomery, who went 1-for-4 with an RBI single in between two strikeouts in his first four plate appearances.

"Especially right there, impressive what Braden did because all of us would've wanted to hit a walk-off homer right there," said Gonzalez, who had a pair of hits. "To actually do it and be calm, and then after, you don't have to be calm anymore."

Raisel Iglesias started Montgomery with a tailing changeup that started inside corner but found the middle of the zone for a taken strike one. He then backed it up with a second consecutive changeup, but this time it started inner third, and the movement didn't make Montgomery flinch. Instead, he kept his hands back and sliced a drive to left field.

"I hit it and I thought that it would at least get over his head so I was excited at least we didn’t lose," Montgomery said. "That was … That left me speechless."

It looked like a game-tying double as Mike Yastrzemski pulled up to play the carom off the wall. Except the carom was unplayable, because the ball bounced off the top of the wall and bounded into the White Sox bullpen, setting off fireworks and a fan frenzy at Rate Field as Montgomery circled the bases for a 6-5 victory that was hard to fathom, even by the standards this season has set.

"We feel like we're never out of it, and we keep doing things like this to continue to prove to ourselves we're not out of it," said Erick Fedde. "We all have this thought of what our debut is going to be like, and very few of us get to experience something like that. So I'm really just happy for him, and all the hard work, he deserves it. I'm sure he won't forget this one."

Montgomery notched three official firsts over the course of his debut -- hit, RBI and homer -- and he can unofficially be credited with a save, because he pulled Will Venable from the fire. It was almost a minor miracle that the White Sox were able to get the game to extras to begin with, because the White Sox lost three runners at home plate in attempt to tie the game or get ahead.

"Needed it there, on a day where situational execution was honestly a disaster," said Will Venable, whose postgame disposition better matched the frustration of the middle innings than the glory of the finish. "Being able to execute is a big part of winning. We have to do a better job of that. That starts with me and just putting on the right plays and putting these guys in the right spots."

Montgomery had notched his first hit and RBI in the fourth when he shot a single through the left side to score Gonzalez and narrow Atlanta's lead to 4-3. At that time, the White Sox still had runners on first and second with nobody out. Tristan Peters tried dropping a drag bunt, and although it rolled foul and he ended up flying out to deep right to move Chase Meidroth to third, it foreshadowed the failed small ball to come.

Luisangel Acuña followed with a safety squeeze off the plate, but it only dribbled about 12 feet from the plate, and Austin Wynns was able to collect it and tag Meidroth for a rare 2-unassisted and the first runner lost. Drew Romo then walked to load the bases and end Grant Holmes' night for a lefty-lefty matchup against Sam Antonacci, and Antonacci flied out to right for the final out.

The sixth was even worse. Randal Grichuk pinch-hit for Peters and drew a one-out walk, and then moved to third when Edgar Quero pinch-hit for Acuña against new reliever Carlos Carrasco and bounced a single through the right side.

Up came Romo, and even though he was facing a 39-year-old Carrasco who hasn't come close to striking out a batter an inning since 2022, Venable had Romo squaring around not once, not twice, but thrice. By the time he finally got a pitch to bunt on a 2-0 count, Matt Olson could practically shake his hand, and Grichuk was a dead duck.

"That's 100 percent on me where we've got Olson crashing," Venable said. "You have to just make an adjustment there, right? You put it on there with Romo and the element of surprise goes away. You're really desperate in that situation to be able to score another run. If you tie that game, Grant [Taylor]'s coming in the game, so want to do everything we can to scratch that run across. But you've got to pivot when the situation tells you to, and that's just something I didn't do a good job of tonight."

Here's where we should note that Venable pinch-ran Derek Hill for Quero, effectively emptying his bench since Colson Montgomery sat with a stiff back. That move also didn't work, because when Sam Antonacci lined a single to right, Eli White cut down Hill at the plate with a couple of steps to spare.

The Sox finally scored that fourth run in the seventh by swinging away. Miguel Vargas walked, Benintendi singled him to third, and Gonzalez smoked a hanging Carrasco slider into right field to tie the game at 4. Meidroth then grounded into a double play to stunt the rally, but the point was made in more ways than one.

And when Mauricio Dubón opened the 10th for Atlanta by squaring around to bunt, then pulling the bat back and slashing a single to the the right side past a drawn-in Gonzalez to put the Braves ahead 5-4, it effectively served to highlight Venable's folly once more. At least the White Sox were able to cut down a Brave at the plate, although it didn't involve strategical error. Dubón had advanced to second when Gonzalez didn't cut Montgomery's throw home, then moved to third on a groundout, but his attempt to score on a contact play had no chance on Austin Riley's direct groundout to Vargas at third.

The first three innings of the game were far more straightforward. Matt Olson blew up the White Sox's opener strategy with two-run moonshot off Brandon Eisert in the first inning, and then took Fedde deep in the third inning. Fedde then compounded his own problems by letting a perfect 3-6-1 turn by Acuña glance off his glove for a run-scoring error and a 4-0 Braves lead.

"Got to work on my PFPs after today, that one hurt," Fedde said. "But overall pretty happy with my stuff."

By the end of the third, Vargas had halved the margin. After Antonacci drew a two-out walk off Grant Holmes to extend the inning, Vargas jumped on a first-pitch fastball at the knees and hit the first of two homers that found the White Sox bullpen. This one reached it on the fly.

Bullet points:

*Montgomery is the fifth player to hit a walk-off homer in his MLB debut.

*Fedde and his pride took lumps in the third, but he rebounded to throw five innings of two-run ball, and it only should've been one.

*Tyler Davis inherited two runners from fellow Tyler Gilbert in the seventh, but got Dubón to pop out, and then successfully received a 3-6-1 double play on the run after Gonzalez started it with a slick pick on one-hop rocket off the bat of Dominic Smith.

*Davis' houdini act allowed Venable to use a straightforward combination of Seranthony Domínguez in the eighth, and Grant Taylor in the ninth and 10th, Taylor gave up more scary contact than he's used to, but still got through two innings with only the Manfred Man scoring.

*The CHSN broadcast saluted the 1980s with Bob Costas and Steve Stone in the booth. Some of the nostalgia was cool, but as the game advanced into extras, the stakes had outgrown their ability to meet them, and too much conversation was about Costas' lack of preparation. It would've been much better in a blowout.

*Davis Martin is Wednesday's starting pitcher, Anthony Kay will follow him on Thursday.

Record: 35-31 | Box score | Statcast