The final score in Sunday’s series finale between the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers might cause a double-take. The series record after the three-game set between the teams might shock some.
But nothing about what the White Sox have done through 70 games — including Sunday’s 6-4 win over the two-time defending champion Dodgers that gave them the three-game series — is unbelievable to the 26 players inside that clubhouse.
“I think we’ve — yeah, I think you should stop thinking of us as a surprise just because we are consistently winning, consistently in every game,” shortstop Colson Montgomery said. “It doesn’t matter what team it is, we are not going to overlook them. We are going to play our ball.”
That “ball” means never panicking at the plate.
A day after Dodgers’ right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto carried a perfect game into the eighth inning and a no-hitter into the ninth, the Dodgers looked to shut down the White Sox lineup again. Right-hander Emmet Sheehan didn’t allow a hit through the first 3 2/3 innings of Sunday’s matinee and cruised through the first five innings of the game.
“If we’re getting no-hit through the first five, then we’re going to bring the sticks in the last four,” second baseman Chase Meidroth said. “It’s not about which inning you do it in, it’s all about just playing all nine.”
They needed just one frame.
The White Sox collected three home runs in the sixth inning as the first six batters collected a hit and turned a one-run deficit into a 6-1 lead over the mighty Dodgers.
“It’s starting with Derek Shomon, our hitting coach, and really setting the tone with the group and the mindset that we’re just going to continue to battle, and you’re going to do it all nine innings,” manager Will Venable said. “And all nine guys are going to do whatever they can to continue to fight, and you get into spots where you continue to grind.
“Maybe the first 80 pitches versus that starter, it doesn’t go your way, but third time around, guys continue to battle, take good swings, and then you’re able to put the starter up against the wall a little bit and do some damage.”
It started with Sam Antonacci’s solo home run to lead the inning, the second of his career and first to actually go over the wall. He hit an inside-the-park home run on April 21 in Arizona.
“A real home run,” Montgomery quipped. “Yeah, we were messing with him (on) how to do celebrations of how he got his first homer. But that was huge, tying the game up and, like I said, it kind of just gave us some more energy that we needed.”
Montgomery gave the White Sox the lead with a three-run home run three batters later, and Meidroth hit his sixth long ball — a two-run shot — two batters later.
The White Sox pitching staff — which essentially employed a bullpen day — was able to stave off the Dodgers’ bats the rest of the way. Bryan Hudson’s only blemish was a solo home run to Freddie Freeman in the first, and left-handed reliever Sean Newcomb threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings after him. Venable then turned to Fedde, who has had an opener in front of him in three of his last four outings.
Fedde threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings to bridge the gap to Grant Taylor and closer Seranthony Domínguez.
“They were really upfront with me about it that they were just going to do their best to put guys in positions to succeed, and obviously it worked out,” Fedde said. “This morning, we were going over the lineup, and they told me we were probably looking after Ohtani’s second at-bat, somewhere around there. Obviously, (Hudson) and (Newcomb) did a great job to keep us right there.”
Domínguez allowed a pair of walks and a double in the ninth, allowing the go-ahead run to come up to bat, but he struck out Freddie Freeman to seal the series win over the Dodgers.
The White Sox won the series over the Dodgers and Atlanta Braves, the two teams with the best records in baseball. Now they head to New York to take on the American League’s best, the New York Yankees, for a three-game set.
“I feel like being in spring training, we looked around, we thought this is a team that has a lot of talent, a lot of skill,” Fedde said. “Obviously, going out there and proving it is a completely different thing. But I guess the guys in here aren’t shocked, and the way we’ve been playing, like I said on this stretch of quality teams and opponents, we’re putting the league a little bit more on notice.”
Injury updates
Venable said after the game that both Kyle Teel (sprained lateral collateral ligament) and Noah Schultz (right knee patellar tendinitis) will head to Charlotte for rehab assignments on Monday and join the Triple-A squad.
Andy Martinez is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
