White Sox Beat Orioles Behind Montgomery Double
Colson Montgomery delivered a key go-ahead double in the eighth inning as the Chicago White Sox opened their seven-game road trip with an 8-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards on June 30.
The game was tied 2-2 when Montgomery drove a ball deep to center field, bringing Sam Antonacci home and putting Chicago ahead 3-2. The hit came as Montgomery continued another strong power-hitting stretch, having reached 20 home runs in his first 275 at-bats for the second straight season.
White Sox manager Will Venable praised Montgomery’s ability to contribute despite not being at full strength in recent days.
“There’s always something to contribute. Colson’s a great example where maybe not feeling his best the last couple of days, grinding and doing everything he can to do his job there, and he came through in a big way.”
Chicago added to its lead later in the inning when Randal Grichuk followed with an RBI single. Montgomery appeared to be tagged out at home on Colton Cowser’s relay throw, but Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman dropped the ball, allowing Montgomery to score and extend the lead to 4-2.
The White Sox then broke the game open in the ninth inning with four more runs. Jacob Gonzalez delivered a two-run single, and Kyle Teel’s ground ball led to two additional runs after it got past third baseman Blaze Alexander.
Montgomery said the win reflected the team’s ability to produce in important moments.
“It’s some of the stuff that we’ve said all year. Everyone is very capable of coming up clutch, I guess you could say, of getting the job done, driving a guy in.”
He also pointed to Miguel Vargas’ long at-bat before his own plate appearance as an important part of the inning.
On the mound, Sean Burke helped keep Chicago in position to win. He struck out a batter to end each of his first five innings and finished with eight strikeouts across 5 1/3 innings. Burke allowed two runs on four hits and three walks.
“I think there’s communication with Teel, communication with coaches is really good,” Burke said about the team’s preparation and execution.
The White Sox bullpen also held firm. Grant Taylor threw two scoreless innings, while Brandon Eisert struck out the side in the ninth to close the game.
Chicago’s defense contributed as well, including a strong play by Tristan Peters in right-center field in the fourth inning that took extra bases away from Dylan Beavers.
With the win, the White Sox improved to 44-39 and moved five games above .500. The victory was also significant because it marked only Chicago’s third win against Baltimore in its last 21 meetings since April 2023. The White Sox had lost nine straight games to the Orioles dating back to September 2024.
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