Davis Martin talked about the first-place Chicago White Sox.
That’s right, the first-place White Sox. The team that lost 100-plus games the last three years is atop the American League Central this late in the season for the first time since 2021.
“Being on the team in ’24 and ’25, you know how hard it is to come to the park with some of those teams,” the right-handed starter said. “But now, every time you come through the parking lot and know that you have a chance to win the game, that really just fires you up.
“It makes all the days worth it. It makes the long road trips worth it. We have a bunch of entertainers and we a bunch of guys who make each other laugh. You are super excited to come to the yard every day.”
The Sox also are jacked up after they knocked off the Atlanta Braves — the team with the best record in Major League Baseball — a second straight night with a 2-1 victory Wednesday in front of 14,627 at Rate Field.
Martin (9-2) threw six shutout innings, allowing six hits and striking out six against the Braves (45-23). He outdueled 2024 Cy Young Award winner and former White Sox star Chris Sale (8-5), who gave up two runs in 5 2/3 innings.
“I gave myself a little bit of time to look up at (the scoreboard), and they had our career stats,” Martin said. “They had mine at 250 punchouts and he had 3,000 or 2,000 or something like that. Some crazy big number.
“And I was just like, ‘man, this is fun.’ This is who you want to play against and this is why you want to be in the big leagues.”
The Sox (36-31) moved a half-game in front of the Cleveland Guardians thanks in part to rookie Braden Montgomery’s two doubles, while Derek Hill and Luisangel Acuna each drove in runs in the fourth inning.
Montgomery burst onto the scene with a walk-off home run in his major-league debut Tuesday night, and the switch hitter smacked a double right-handed off Sale and left-handed off James Karinchak.
“(Sale) is obviously one of the greats in the game, so you’ve really got to find the balance between (blocking) out that you are playing against a Hall of Famer and locking in and trying to put together quality at-bats to get a win,” Montgomery, 23, said.
Shortstop Colson Montgomery missed his second straight game with back tightness, saying he experienced some discomfort two weeks ago but played through it. He is planning to return Thursday.
“It’s nothing to worry about,” Colson Montgomery said. “We’re just trying to get ahead of it, so we thought this was the best thing to do. It was getting to the point where it was getting more painful and less manageable. That’s why we thought big picture and see where we’re at. If it starts affecting me with my life and my day-to-day stuff, that’s when I need to start thinking about stuff.”
Meanwhile, he said he wished he could have played in Tuesday’s 6-5, 10-inning win in which Braden Montgomery hit the dramatic home run.
“I had FOMO last night,” said Colson Montgomery, using the phrase Fear of Missing Out. “What Braden did was awesome.”
Colson Montgomery made his debut last summer and has proved to be a strong hitter and defensive player. He laughed when told people are calling Braden the better Montgomery.
“There is no rivalry,” the shortstop said. “He’s like my brother. That’s how we go about that relationship. We’re good friends. We spent time in spring training and we’re all getting to know him.”
This series has produced some interesting exchanges in the Acuña family. Ronald Jr., a Braves outfielder, and Luisangel, a Sox infielder, played on the same major-league field against each just once in their career before Tuesday night. They both were a part of the pregame lineup card exchange in the series opener.
With two outs in the second inning Tuesday, Ronald Acuña was hit by a pitch. He tried to steal second but was tagged out by younger brother Luisangel, who has been subbing at shortstop for Colson Montgomery.
“He said I was tricking him because I didn’t tag him,” Luisangel said through an interpreter. “It’s exciting for me to play against him because when I was a kid, I would dream about playing here (in the majors) with him or against him. We were able to make that dream come true.”
But in the fifth inning, Ronald suffered a hamstring injury running out a grounder, and the Braves on Wednesday placed him on the 10-day injured list.
Luisangel had two hits and an RBI on Wednesday, stole third base in the seventh inning and was tagged out at the plate on a fielder’s choice.
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
