The severe storms that swept through the Chicago area Thursday helped keep the White Sox in first place.
The Sox maintained their half-game lead over the idle Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central after their series finale against the Atlanta Braves at Rate Field was postponed. The game will be made up at 1:10 p.m. Aug. 20.
The Sox (36-31) won their two games against the Braves, who at 45-23 have the best record in MLB. Braden Montgomery’s walk-off home run in his major-league debut Tuesday gave them a 6-5, 10-inning victory in the series opener, and a night later they won 2-1 to leapfrog the Guardians.
But it doesn’t get any easier. The two-time-defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers come to town for three games beginning Friday. The Sox altered their rotation after the rainout, with Anthony Kay starting Friday, followed by Sean Burke on Saturday and Erick Fedde on Sunday.
Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani was not scheduled to pitch in the series, and he was not in the lineup for Friday’s series opener after leaving Thursday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates with left knee inflammation.
Here are three takeaways from the Sox-Braves series.
1. Back in form
White Sox right-hander Davis Martin outdueled 2024 NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale on Wednesday night, tying him with the Guardians’ Gavin Williams and Milwaukee Brewers’ Aaron Ashby for the major-league lead with nine wins.
Martin (9-2) threw six shutout innings against the Braves after suffering his worst outing of the season June 2 at Minnesota. He was lit up for six runs on 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings against the Twins.
That sounded the alarm bells for the Sox, who gave Martin a little extra rest between starts. The seven-day break worked out well.
“To be honest, you look at what Minnesota was and I think physically I was exhausted,” Martin said. “I realized how much the body was tired, so that little blow was huge. I felt like the ball was coming out of my hand normal. I felt like I was back to myself.”
Added manager Will Venable: “He attacked the zone and had really good stuff. The rest paid off, and when he had his great stuff and he’s able to pound the zone, he’s as good as anybody.”
Martin was proud to be able to outduel Sale, who played the first seven seasons of his career on the South Side.
“He’s had an incredible career and obviously he’s still sharper than ever, and it’s just really fun to go up against him,” Martin said.
And “the first-place White Sox” has a nice ring to it.
“We are doing things right,” Martin said. “Our culture is in the right spot. The guys know their roles and they are doing their jobs. We’re making sure we are doing everything in the weight room and the training room and prep to make sure we are doing our jobs. That doesn’t change. We have 95ish games to go, and whatever we’re doing right now is working.”
2. Trade, Part I
Outfielder Derek Hill had a big RBI single in Wednesday’s 2-1 win. A day later, he was packing his bags.
The Sox traded Hill to the Philadelphia Phillies for minor-league outfielder Dylan Campbell, minor-league infielder Jose Colmenares and $250,000 in international pool money.
Hill hit .213 with four home runs, eight RBIs and seven stolen bases in 50 games this season.
“He was such a great player for us and a great person in the clubhouse,” Venable said. “Obviously, he made an impact on the field. It’s really a situation where we’re in a little bit of a roster crunch.
“It speaks to D-Hill and his performance and who he is that there was a lot of interest in him. It also speaks to where our club is at as we had to push a really good player off of our roster.”
To take Hill’s place on the roster, the Sox reinstated outfielder Everson Pereira (right pectoral strain) from the injured list. He hit .250 with three home runs and seven RBIs in 18 games before the injury. He spent some time on the IR earlier in the season with an ankle sprain.
Campbell was hitting .216 with seven home runs and 31 RBIs in Double A, and Colmenares was hitting .278 with three home runs and 19 RBIs in Class A.
3. Trade, Part II
The Sox were not done wheeling and dealing after the Hill move. They also made a rare interdivision trade with the Guardians, picking up outfielder Nolan Jones for $250,000 in international bonus money.
Jones, 28, was hitting .275 with eight home runs and 31 RBIs in 189 at-bats with Triple-A Columbus.
The Guardians drafted Jones in the second round in 2016, and he spent time in the Colorado Rockies organization before coming back to Cleveland. He played 136 games last season and hit .211 with five home runs and 34 RBIs.
His most productive season was in 2023 with the Rockies when he hit .297 with 20 home runs, 22 doubles and 62 RBIs.
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
Associated Press contributed.
