BALTIMORE — Colson Montgomery joined rare company in the third inning of Tuesday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles.
The shortstop became the third Chicago White Sox player with a home run that reached Eutaw Street well beyond the right-field wall at Camden Yards. Only Adam Dunn (on Sept. 8, 2013) and Jeff Liefer (June 21, 2001) had previously accomplished the feat.
“I didn’t even think it went over that gate, I thought it went through the gate,” Montgomery said. “I knew I got it pretty good, though.”
Montgomery’s blast came during a seven-run inning for the Sox, who hammered the Orioles 9-3 in front of 17,581.
Jacob Gonzalez drove in two with a single and Junior Perez had a three-run home run in the third inning as the Sox (45-39) wrapped up June alone in first place in the American League Central. They are two games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians (44-42), who lost 4-2 to the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.
The Sox went 13-12 in June, securing consecutive winning months for the first time since 2021, when they had a winning record every month of the season.
“I think we’ve just done a really good job of maintaining our consistency, our energy,” manager Will Venable said. “The valleys, which you expect to happen at times, really minimizing those. Which is great.
“It’s a winning month, but you feel like we weren’t really hot this month and also didn’t really have those really bad stretches.”
The victory gives the Sox a road series win, snapping a skid of seven straight series losses on the road.
“That’s big,” Venable said. “Disappointing we haven’t had a road series win in that long but it’s a great time to get it and really proud of the guys for continuing to battle on the road.”
Erick Fedde earned the win, allowing three runs on five hits with three strikeouts and three walks in five innings.
Tyler Schweitzer pitched the final four innings for the save. He became the first Sox pitcher to earn the save while tossing at least four scoreless innings since Keith Foulke on Aug. 18, 1997, against Seattle (six innings).
Asked what was working in his start on Tuesday, Fedde said, “Honestly, not a lot, but the sweeper was great.”
He continued, “Leaned on that. I mean, probably threw that, like 50%. That’s at least how it felt out there. But battled through it and it helps when the guys give you a bunch of runs. Makes life a lot easier.”
Chicago White Sox catcher Kyle Teel continues to settle in since returning from a lengthy IL stint
He received plenty of run support, largely in the third inning. Andrew Benintendi led off the inning with a single, which was followed by the 440-foot home run from Montgomery — his 21st of the season — to give the Sox a 3-1 lead.
“I’m up there trying to stick with my plan, stick with my approach,” Montgomery said. “Just knowing that if I stick with my plan that I trust, that there are results that are going to come out of it.”
Montgomery became the 137th player overall to hit a home run that landed on Eutaw Street, and the 73rd by a Baltimore opponent.
“It was majestic,” Venable said.
Two walks and a single followed, bringing Gonzalez to the plate with the bases loaded. He singled to left field, knocking in two to extend the Sox lead to 5-1. Perez followed with his 409-foot three-run home run to center field, making it 8-1.
“Just really good at-bats throughout the order,” Venable said of the inning. “There’s a lot of good stuff that has to happen to score seven runs.
“Up and down the order, really good stuff.”
Gonzalez drove in another run with a double in the fourth inning, helping the Sox to their first series victory against the Orioles since a three-game sweep from July 9-11, 2021, at Camden Yards.
White Sox announce minor-league trade
The Sox sent minor-league pitcher Ben Peoples to the Texas Rangers on Tuesday, acquiring minor-league catcher Ben Hartl. Peoples, 25, had a 2.39 ERA in 29 relief outings with Triple-A Charlotte. He struck out 45 and walked 21 in 37 2/3 innings.
Hartl, 23, hit .218 with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 32 games at High-A Hub City. He is a Springfield native and was Sox outfielder Sam Antonacci’s teammate at Heartland Community College in 2023.
