WASHINGTON — The Washington Nationals gave the Chicago White Sox every opportunity to snap a five-game losing streak.
Colson Montgomery took advantage of the final chance, hitting a go-ahead two-run home run in the ninth inning to lead the Sox to a 10-9 victory in front of 33,938 on Friday at Nationals Park.
The Sox surrendered six home runs — three to Luis García Jr. — and saw an 8-1 lead evaporate. Still, they found a way to stop their skid in the opener of their final series of the 2025 season.
“Anything can change with one swing,” Montgomery said.
The Nationals provided plenty of help, making four errors. Two came during a four-run Sox first. The final error came during the pivotal ninth.
With one out, Kyle Teel hit a slow grounder near the first-base line. Nationals reliever Jose A. Ferrer couldn’t field the ball cleanly, and Teel reached first safely.
Montgomery followed with the two-run blast, his 20th of the season.
“Sometimes you get in those moments and try to do too much,” Montgomery said. “Earlier in the night, I felt like I was trying to do too much. Didn’t feel like I was seeing the ball too well, because I was trying to do too much, overswing and things like that.
“So, sometimes in those situations it kind of calms you down, you try to do one job. Put the ball forward, keep the train rolling for the guys behind us. So, it’s sick.”
Manager Will Venable credited Montgomery’s ability to make the in-game adjustments. The shortstop was 0-for-4 coming into that at-bat, having struck out three times.
“That’s outstanding,” Venable said. “It says a lot about his progress, his development, how he’s handling failure. I know there was a lot of frustration (for) him with the first few at-bats there and to be able to recalibrate there and get back on track and give us a shot with that big swing is great. Says a lot about the way he’s handling things.”
White Sox first baseman Lenyn Sosa, right, and Korey Lee celebrate after a 10-9 win against the Nationals on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Washington. (Nick Wass/AP)
The Sox (59-101) won even after seeing a large lead disappear. They jumped ahead 8-1 with Lenyn Sosa making huge offensive contributions. He had an RBI single as part of the four-run first, hit a solo home run in the fourth and had an RBI double during a two-run fifth.
The Sox went to the bottom of the fifth leading 8-1. García homered to make it 8-2. He connected for a two-run homer off Sox starter Yoendrys Gómez during a three-run sixth as the Nationals pulled within 8-5.
“I just missed a couple pitches, and at this level, when you do that, you’re going to pay for it,” Gómez said through an interpreter. “They are good hitters and they took full advantage of it.”
Gómez allowed five runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and no walks in six innings. He allowed four home runs.
The Nationals stunned the Sox with four more runs in the eighth to take the lead. Daylen Lile hit a three-run home run against reliever Jordan Leasure to tie the score. García gave the Nationals a 9-8 lead with a solo shot against Leasure later in the inning.
The Sox were down, but not out.
“These guys just continued to fight,” Venable said. “We hear the chatter in the dugout, the things they are saying. You can feel the energy. There was no letup at all that whole game, even after some zeros there and (the Nationals) take the lead.
“These guys were focused and excited to get back out there and give it a shot.”
And after Teel reached, Montgomery made the most of the big moment.
“I never thought I would get to 20 homers this year,” Montgomery said. “But it goes back to the preparation. The work you put in and all of us, we put in the work so all you can do is get ready for the next day.”
It’s only the third time in franchise history the Sox won while allowing at least six home runs. They surrendered seven home runs against the Detroit Tigers on May 28, 1995, but won 14-12 and allowed six homers against the Tigers on July 2, 2002, but won 17-9.
They did it again Friday.
“I think we showed after the All-Star break how electric this offense can be at times,” said reliever Grant Taylor, who struck out two in the ninth and earned his sixth save. “Putting up 10 runs in any major-league ballgame is awesome. That was unbelievable.”