Chicago White Sox rookie shortstop Colson Montgomery already has homered in at least two consecutive games on four occasions in his brief major league career.
On Tuesday, he will aim to go deep in three straight contests for the second time as the White Sox continue their series against the visiting Detroit Tigers.
Montgomery delivered a solo shot in the fifth inning of the White Sox’s 2-1 loss to the Tigers in the series opener. On Sunday, his 452-foot blast helped key a victory over the Cleveland Guardians and marked the longest homer hit at Rate Field this season.
Montgomery, who has hit 10 homers in 32 games, recently returned to using a “torpedo” bat, which has a thicker barrel and is thinner at the top.
“I guess I like the bat or the bat likes me,” Montgomery said. “I would like to think that if you just give me a bat, I’ll be fine, but some guys have their special thing with certain bats, and I just feel comfortable with it.
“Once I got it, I felt it was pretty natural. When I had to use a normal bat, I felt like there was too much weight at the end. It kind of made me out and around and pull happy, I guess. When I have a torpedo in my hand, I guess I feel tight to the ball and can let the ball track a little bit more and I can whip it to the zone faster.”
Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty (6-11, 4.56 ERA) will try to limit Montgomery and the White Sox as he shoots for his third victory against Chicago this season. Detroit’s Chris Paddack and three relievers combined on a four-hitter on Monday, with rookie Kyle Teel going 2-for-3 for the White Sox.
Montgomery had not yet been promoted from Triple-A Charlotte when Flaherty pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball while striking out seven to defeat the visiting White Sox on April 4. He also wasn’t with the team during Flaherty’s June 2 victory in Chicago, a one-run, six-inning effort with four strikeouts.
Flaherty is winless in two August starts, however, and he’s coming off a Wednesday home loss to the Minnesota Twins. He permitted six runs, five earned, and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.
“I couldn’t get strike one, I couldn’t get ahead, I couldn’t land my slider and I barely landed my curveball,” Flaherty said. “Look at it all together, nothing was really good.”
Flaherty is 3-1 with a 2.33 ERA in five career starts against the White Sox. He logged 29 strikeouts and seven walks in 27 innings during those contests.
Detroit overcame 13 strikeouts in its Monday win. Spencer Torkelson had two hits for the Tigers, including a go-ahead solo home run in the ninth.
Torkelson has 26 home runs, one behind Riley Greene for the club lead. Torkelson has three homers in the past five games and has hit at least 25 home runs twice in the past three seasons.
The White Sox, who used an opener on Monday following the recent demotion of right-hander Jonathan Cannon to Triple-A Charlotte, are expected to follow a similar pattern on Tuesday. Chicago had not yet announced a starting pitcher as of late Monday night.
–Field Level Media
