Colson Montgomery didn’t take long to extend his home run streak.
The Chicago White Sox shortstop drove the first pitch he saw in Tuesday’s second inning against the Kansas City Royals the opposite way. The ball hit off the left-field foul pole for a solo home run.
It was the rookie’s fourth consecutive game with a home run.
Montgomery helped the Sox build a four-run lead. But the Royals scored two runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth to rally and defeat the Sox 5-4 in front of 10,907 at Rate Field.
Despite seven dazzling innings from starter Martín Pérez, the Sox (48-84) saw their three-game winning streak come to an end. Kyle Isbel put the Royals ahead in the ninth with an RBI single against reliever Tyler Alexander.
“Tough game,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “Really well-played game. Obviously an outstanding outing by Martín. Was in control the whole time. A nice job by our offense and some great plays defensively as well.
“Just sometimes you get beat and I thought Kansas City did a great job putting the ball in play and finding some holes and they really earned their way on base, and we had the one walk there (in the eighth) and a hit a batter (in the ninth). I thought it was just a tough game, but well-played game.”
The Sox played most of the game without center fielder Luis Robert Jr., who exited with soreness in his left hamstring. Michael A. Taylor replaced Robert in the top of the fourth inning.
Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery is congratulated by third base coach Justin Jirschele after Montgomery hit a solo home run in the second inning of a game against the Kansas City Royals at Rate Field in Chicago on Aug. 26, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
“A couple steps before he got to first base running down the line there (in a second-inning at-bat), just some left hamstring tightness,” Venable said. “So he’s being evaluated and we’ll have some more information tomorrow.”
Robert exited with the Sox leading 1-0 thanks to the second-inning home run by Montgomery. He became the fourth rookie in Sox history to homer in at least four straight games, according to Elias Sports Bureau, joining Ron Kittle (five games in 1983), Rich McKinney (four in 1970) and Matt Davidson (four in 2017).
Montgomery hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning on Aug. 22 against the Minnesota Twins, a grand slam in the second inning against the Twins the next night and another two-run home run in the second inning of the series finale on Aug. 24.
He did not play in Monday’s series opener against the Royals, but got right back in the swing of things Tuesday.
“That was a good (swing),” Venable said. “Big, strong guy that can obviously do damage to all parts of the field, so nice to see him be aggressive early in the count and it was a cool one to see.”
The Sox added three more runs in the sixth. Kyle Teel and Lenyn Sosa had RBI singles in the inning. The third run of the inning came on a wild pitch, allowing Miguel Vargas to score to make it 4-0.
Pérez, meanwhile, was in control on the mound for the Sox. The left-hander allowed one hit, a single to Bobby Witt Jr. to lead off the fourth, while striking out five in his seven scoreless innings.
“I feel good,” Pérez said. “Just enjoyed it. I’m able to do whatever I want with the strike zone and I’m just doing my job.”
Photos: Chicago White Sox fall 5-4 to the Kansas City Royals at Rate Field
The Royals started their comeback against reliever Jordan Leasure in the eighth, loading the bases with two outs. Grant Taylor entered and surrendered a two-run single to Maikel Garcia, cutting the Sox lead in half. That snapped a streak of 27 consecutive scoreless innings for Sox pitching.
Taylor rebounded to strike out Witt.
He returned for the ninth, allowing three singles before exiting with one out and the bases loaded.
“Stuff felt good,” Taylor said. “I thought execution was solid. Threw a lot of pitches in the zone. Just gave up hits.
“Something to be gained from everything. Some good takeaways from successes and there’s takeaways from failures. Sucks there’s more to take away from tonight but tomorrow is a new day.”
Michael Massey drove in two with a single against Alexander to tie the score at 4. Adam Frazier got hit by a pitch to load the bases. Isbel followed with a line-drive single to center, bringing in what turned out to be the game-winning run.
“We’ve been doing good,” Pérez said. “We lost the game. That’s part of the game. That happens in baseball, and we’ve just got to be ready for tomorrow.
“We’ve been doing a great job and just (have to) start turning the page and be ready for tomorrow.”
Originally Published: August 26, 2025 at 10:50 PM CDT