The White Sox carried a clean early script into Saturday night at Rate Field, then watched it unravel on the first routine play. Davis Martin got Jake McCarthy to bounce toward first, but Munetaka Murakami’s flip could not be handled by the pitcher, opening a three-run Colorado first inning in a 9-6 Chicago loss.
Martin was lifted before the inning ended, with Noah Schultz taking over after two-thirds of an inning. Martin was charged with three runs, two earned, as the White Sox lost their division path on the final weekend of the regular season.
Quick facts
- The Rockies beat the White Sox, 9-6, on Saturday at Rate Field.
- Davis Martin allowed three runs, two earned, while recording two outs.
- Cleveland clinched the AL Central with an 11-5 win at Kansas City.
- Chicago will open the American League Wild Card Series on Tuesday, either in Texas or Houston.
- Chase Meidroth, sidelined from the starting lineup by left hamstring discomfort, doubled as a pinch-hitter in the eighth.
Cleveland’s win gave the Guardians a two-game division cushion with one game remaining, sending Chicago into the Wild Card round. The White Sox now await whether the Rangers or Astros become their postseason opponent.
Meidroth missed a second straight start, though his eighth-inning leadoff double showed he was available in a limited role. Kyle Teel followed with a single against Brennan Bernardino, placing runners at the corners with the Sox trying to close the gap.
That rally stalled quickly. Sam Antonacci struck out swinging, then Colson Montgomery hit into an inning-ending double play on the next pitch.
Montgomery also began the night on the bench against Colorado left-hander Jose Quintana, a former White Sox pitcher. Manager Will Venable arranged his lineup to best handle Quintana, but Chicago repeatedly came up one swing short.
Trailing 5-2 in the fifth, the White Sox brought Randal Grichuk to the plate with two outs and the potential tying run aboard. Grichuk popped out, and Montgomery later struck out as a pinch-hitter in the sixth for his 225th strikeout of the season, adding to his Major League single-season record.
Chicago scratched out a run on Grichuk’s seventh-inning groundout. Murakami then drove a ball projected at 384 feet to right field, but Cole Carrigg made the catch just short of the wall, ending another threat.
It was that kind of night: a missed exchange on the opening grounder, rallies that never fully broke through, and a division race that ended before the White Sox could play their final regular-season game. The next assignment is October, on the road, with Tuesday waiting.
