Chicago Sun-Times

CLEVELAND — Braden Montgomery didn’t have a great rookie season at the plate. It started magically in June with a walk-off home run in his major-league debut to beat the Braves, the best team in baseball at the time. He had two doubles the next night in another White Sox victory over the Braves. The team’s No. 2 prospect and 21st-ranked prospect in baseball was on a path to stardom. But the rest of his season was mostly nondescript. Though he was good with the glove, he left a lot to be desired with the bat. He hit six home runs in 93 games, lacking the pop he showed at Texas A&M, where he hit 27 homers in 61 games in 2024. He finished the regular season with a paltry .662 OPS. Manager Will Venable kept putting him in the lineup, though, even into the postseason. Entering Game 2 of the American League Division Series against the Guardians on Monday, he was hitless in his previous 10 at-bats. The question had to be asked: Why is he in the lineup? So a reporter worked up the nerve to ask Venable a question he probably wouldn’t like, and he asked it in the most ham-handed of ways: “Braden Montgomery is in the lineup every day. What makes you confident that he belongs in the lineup every day?” “Are you thinking he shouldn't be in the lineup?” Venable replied. As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what I thought … I mean, what the reporter thought. His name has been removed to protect his family. “No, no, no,” the reporter said, backtracking as sweat began to pool on his forehead. “I just want to know what you think makes him so valuable for a rookie?” “Oh, gotcha. Braden is a special player.” Venable went on, talking about Montgomery being a valuable switch hitter, a really good defender, a great athlete, a “big piece of our lineup.” Seemingly speaking it into existence, Venable watched as Montgomery had the biggest hit of his life, a go-ahead, two-run double in the sixth inning that helped give the Sox a 4-3 victory and a 2-0 lead in the series, which could end Wednesday at Rate Field. Facing left-handed reliever Erik Sobrowski, the switch-hitting Montgomery — who hit .129 right-handed against lefties in the regular season — lined a first-pitch fastball low and away down the line in right, landing it maybe a foot inside the line. Miguel Vargas and Randal Grichuk scored, and when Montgomery reached second base, he let out a yell that every Sox fan felt. “I can’t even describe the energy that was running through me in that moment,” Montgomery said. “To see the ball get down, and to know you’ve got two ducks on the pond that are right there, it’s exhilarating. It was special to touch the bag and look back into the dugout and see my guys. It’s a feeling like no other. You want to feel that feeling every night.” What is it that makes Venable so confident in Montgomery, despite what the numbers say? “He’s a guy that is not going to shy away from the moment,” he said. “As you're evaluating your best nine on a given day, it’s not just what happens at the plate. It’s defensive ability. It’s baserunning. Really everything.” Montgomery doesn’t take that confidence for granted. “It’s really special for me coming from a person like Will,” he said. “Getting to know Will and seeing the man that he is, I respect him so much. To have that confidence in me means the world. I feel like that makes winning ballclubs, when you create these bonds with people. I’d run through a wall for Will.” OK, so I was wrong … I mean, the reporter was wrong. Montgomery, who shows a maturity beyond his years, belongs in the lineup every day. Now the Sox come home, where they’ll be greeted by a raucous crowd that hasn’t seen them since Sept. 27, when they beat the Rockies in a meaningless regular-season finale. They had lost the night before, and the Guardians had won, clinching the Central title. That the Guardians lost the next day to make the final margin just one game was awfully nervy. But the Sox could end up having the last laugh with a series sweep, or just a series victory. It’s called the regular season for a reason, because it’s regular, it’s normal. What Montgomery and the Sox are doing in the postseason is anything but.

CLEVELAND — Add the White Sox’ performance in Game 2 of the American League Division Series to their four games in the regular season against Guardians starter Gavin Williams, and it doesn’t look too bad at first for the AL strikeout leader. Williams has a 3.91 ERA against the Sox, who have the AL’s best scoring offense. After punching out 11 in five-plus innings Monday in Cleveland, his strikeout rate against all hitters this season is a whopping 36.4%. But he failed to earn the ‘‘W’’ in any of his starts against the Sox and has walked their hitters 10.3% of the time. The Guardians won only one of his five outings against the Sox, via a walk-off in extra innings in June. It gets worse. Williams failed to get through six innings in any of these outings, and an attempt to get him there Monday — facing the heart of the Sox’ order a third time — is where the game flipped in the visitors’ favor, giving the Sox a 4-3 victory and a 2-0 edge in the best-of-five series. ‘‘With the talented arms that the Guardians have, it’s not just getting a good swing; you have to adjust,’’ manager Will Venable said. ‘‘You’ve got to find different ways to beat them.’’ Miguel Vargas found one. Having already walked twice against Williams, he worked a full count leading off the sixth before lining the seventh pitch he saw for a single. The hit chased Williams, who had entered the inning at 91 pitches, and kick-started a three-run Sox rally against Guardians reliever Erik Sabrowski. ‘‘[Williams] is a really good pitcher,’’ Vargas said. ‘‘My approach is [to] focus on one pitch: middle-middle. I don’t think I’ve got much chance at anything else.’’ Middle-middle is where Vargas hit Williams’ fastball for a single. He just had to make him work for a while first. ### Straight to the point for Taylor After his four-inning outing in Game 1 on Saturday, it was up in the air whether reliever Grant Taylor would be physically able to pitch two days later. The answer came when he entered in the eighth Monday, weathering Jo Adell’s RBI triple to notch a four-out save. The conversation about his availability wound up being fairly short. Taylor said bench coach Walker McKinven approached him with a simple question: ‘‘You want it?’’ ‘‘Obviously,’’ Taylor replied. ### ‘There’s hits in ice cream cones’ When Sam Antonacci, 23, told WGN on Sunday that he was eating an ice cream cone when Sox teammate Munetaka Murakami hit his two-run home run in Game 1, he noted he could have been in trouble with coaches if they had needed him to pinch-hit and saw what he was doing. But the Sox, with the youngest position-player group in the AL, see purpose in the snacks in the visitors’ clubhouse. ‘‘I’ve noticed this in my baseball career: Ice cream cones are good luck,’’ said catcher Kyle Teel, 24. ‘‘There’s hits in ice cream cones.’’ Venable has allowed his players to create their own clubhouse culture and stood by that approach in this case. ‘‘I’m fully supportive of whatever these guys think is good luck,’’ Venable said. ‘‘Ice cream for everybody, then.’’ Antonacci, a lifelong infielder before this season, when he began playing left field, as well, initially took a step in on Steven Kwan’s liner to left in the eighth, but he held his focus to recover and make a scrambling catch for a crucial first out. ‘‘Nice catch from Sam,’’ Vargas said. ‘‘I guess he wasn’t eating ice cream, so he made that play.’’

A roundup of the latest news Monday from Halas Hall: ### Thumbs up Bears running back Kyle Monangai’s thumb injury isn’t considered serious as the Bears prepare to face the Packers on Sunday. “We think he’s going to be OK,” coach Ben Johnson said. “So we’ll see what it looks like as we go through the week here, but [it’s] more of a day-to-day type [of] deal.” Monangai ran 30 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns in the 23-12 victory against the Jets on Sunday. ### Parsons off Bears’ plate Packers coach Matt LaFleur said star edge rusher Micah Parsons won’t practice this week, cementing that he’ll be out Sunday. He’s recovering from tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last year. “The guy is working his butt off to be out there,” LaFleur told reporters. ### Cooper lost for season Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper tore his Achilles tendon against the Buccaneers and is out for the season. ### Davenport’s days with Bears over One day after he was promoted from the practice squad and made his season debut, playing 12 snaps, Bears veteran defensive lineman Marcus Davenport was released at his own request. He has been in the NFL since 2018 but has played in only 15 games the last four seasons. NFL Network reported Monday night he planned to retire.

Blackhawks defenseman Bowen Byram got the call from his pregnant wife, Kailey, around 5:30 a.m. Saturday: He needed to get back to Chicago. He quickly left the Hawks’ hotel in Buffalo, landed in Chicago around 10:30 and was at the hospital when Kailey gave birth to twin girls — their first children — around 3:20 that afternoon. “It was definitely a crazy day, but I was happy I was able to get back and support her through it,” Byram said Monday. “Everything went smoothly. They came a little earlier than we would’ve liked, but they’re doing great. Everything has been going super well.” Byram returned to practice Monday, having missed the Hawks’ 4-3 defeat Saturday to his former Sabres teammates, but the 25-year-old Canadian should be in the lineup Tuesday night for the home opener against the Blues at the United Center. “Even just getting off the ice today for practice, I’m so excited to go back and see my baby girls,” he said. “I feel like whenever you go through a major life change, it puts things in perspective. I’m super excited.” The “new dad boost” is a famous phenomenon in the NHL — one Byram hopes to experience this week. And he and the Hawks certainly could use it after an opening road trip that couldn’t have gone much worse. They’re 0-3-0 to start a season for the first time since 2021, having been outscored 15-5 and outshot 97-56 over those three games. Byram liked that the Hawks got going by the third period against the Golden Knights in their season opener a week ago but admitted their 6-0 blowout loss to the Mammoth last Thursday was “not one of my prouder moments.” “We had a tough night,” he said. “Obviously, you’re going to have those throughout the season. Do you expect them to be [in] Game 2? No. But it happened. You’ve got to own it like a man and try to get better. That’s what we’ve done and will continue to do.” During the preseason, Byram demonstrated his impressive ability to anticipate puck movement and get to it first with his elite skating. Those skills weren’t as evident in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, where he was generally out-muscled and outplayed. Although it’s understandable his focus was partially elsewhere,, the Hawks were outscored 3-0 and outshot 25-11 during his five-on-five ice time in those games. Hawks coach Jeff Blashill switched up the defensive pairings halfway through the debacle against the Mammoth and will start those combinations again Tuesday: Byram with Artyom Levshunov, Alex Vlasic with Ian Cole and Wyatt Kaiser with Sam Rinzel. Byram has moved back to his natural left side, while fellow left-hander Cole has shifted over to the right, where he also has plenty of experience. The Hawks will need either Byram or Cole to play on his off side in every game, since Levshunov and Rinzel are the team’s only natural right-handers. Blashill hopes that splitting Byram and Vlasic — arguably the Hawks’ two best defensemen — will bring more stability to the unit. “You’ll have one of those two guys out there for anywhere from 40 to 50 minutes . . . if they’re not playing on the same ‘D’ pair,” Blashill said. “There’s an advantage in that.” With their next two games against teams that missed the playoffs last season, and with eight of their next nine games at home, the Hawks need to right the ship right now. > Connor Bedard taking part in skating/shooting drills with the Blackhawks in practice: pic.twitter.com/4qVtxUsPTL > > — Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) October 5, 2026 Although star center Connor Bedard can’t help them at the moment, he’s inching closer to being ready after his recovery from shoulder surgery in July; that could boost morale for everyone else. Wearing a non-contact jersey, Bedard participated in a couple of team drills Monday for the first time since his surgery. The Hawks haven’t shared any timeline updates, but it’s conceivable he could return by the end of October. “It’s awesome to have [Bedard] out there,” Blashill said.