After a rough Tuesday, the White Sox answered with the kind of win that keeps a team sitting on top of a division.
Chicago beat the Rangers 4-2 on Wednesday night, picking up its 18th series victory of the season and, thanks to Cleveland’s 10-6 loss to the Twins, moving back into sole possession of first place in the AL Central by one game. The Sox are 54-47 and head into Thursday’s off day in a much better spot than they were 24 hours earlier.
The game started with a little patience and a little chaos. Texas starter Tyler Alexander retired the first four White Sox hitters before Braden Montgomery drew a walk, took third on a wild pitch, and scored when Chase Meidroth lined an RBI single to center. Andrew Benintendi then grounded into a double play, which kept Chicago’s early lead from growing.
That 1-0 edge didn’t last long. In the bottom of the second, Anthony Kay gave up a two-out solo homer to rookie Cam Cauley, his first major league home run after being called up on June 29, and the game was tied at one.
Kay spent much of the night pitching through traffic. In the third, he worked out of a first-and-third jam by striking out former White Sox first-round pick Jake Burger.
Chicago’s offense then backed him in the fourth, when Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery both walked, Braden grounded into a force out, and Meidroth came through again with an RBI single. Benintendi followed with another RBI knock to make it 3-1.
Edgar Quero, recalled from Charlotte on Monday, walked to load the bases, but Tristan Peters popped out to end the inning.
The Rangers kept pressing, and Kay kept having to escape. Brandon Nimmo singled and Ezequiel Duran doubled to start the bottom of the fourth, then Kay hit Cauley, his MLB-leading 19th hit batter of the season, to load the bases.
Elías Díaz grounded into a double play to bring home a run, but Kay limited the damage and struck out Alejandro Osuna to keep Chicago ahead 3-2. He later stranded two more runners in the fifth.
The Sox added a key insurance run in the sixth. Braden singled with one out, Meidroth picked up his third hit of the night, and Benintendi delivered again with an RBI single to center for a 4-2 lead. Quero and Peters couldn’t add to it, but the extra run was enough.
From there, the bullpen took over and shut everything down. Jordan Hicks worked around a pair of defensive miscues in the sixth, then Grant Taylor turned in the loudest stretch of the night.
He struck out the side in the seventh on just 14 pitches, came back for the eighth, and punched out two more in a perfect inning. Taylor fanned five of the six hitters he faced and reached 100.4 mph.
Bryan Hudson finished it in the ninth, striking out Cauley and Díaz before getting Osuna to bounce out and end it.
Meidroth led the way with four hits and two RBIs, while Benintendi drove in two runs of his own. Kay wasn’t clean, but he kept surviving, and the bullpen finished the job with four scoreless, hitless innings.
The White Sox are off Thursday before returning home Friday to open a weekend series against the Houston Astros.
In Other News...
White Sox Prospect Rankings Just Took An Unexpected Turn
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The list is still a little unfinished, though, because it does not yet account for the White Soxs 2026 draft class while the signing deadline remains ahead. That means Caleb Bonemer is sitting atop the board for now, even as the next wave of talent looms, and he also had another rough moment in Birmingham when he was hit in the helmet again after striking out and had to be replaced. [Read more 🡒]
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The most jarring moment came when Caleb Bonemer was hit in the head by a pitch and left the game, a frightening scene for one of the clubs top prospects. Preliminary tests were encouraging, but he remains under evaluation, leaving the White Sox with a familiar minor league concern: the results on the scoreboard matter less than the health update that follows. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Could Finally Make A Future Shaping Deadline Swing
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There are a few paths they could explore, including arms from the Angels and a potential impact bat from the Athletics, but the challenge is obvious: controllable talent rarely comes cheap. Even when a player looks attainable, the price tag and the odds of a deal actually getting done can be very different things. For a White Sox club trying to balance patience with progress, this deadline could be the first real test of how bold it wants to be. [Read more 🡒]