White Sox Triumph Over Rangers in High-Scoring Game
Tristan Peters stepped up in the eighth inning with a chance to hit for the cycle for the second time this season. Peters stated, “I don’t know if you try to hit a triple, but I was trying.” The Chicago White Sox left fielder walked on four pitches. He had a stellar three-hit performance, including his fourth consecutive game with a home run, contributing to an 11-7 victory against the Texas Rangers in front of 19,892 fans at Rate Field. Peters doubled in the first inning, singled in the fourth, and homered in the sixth. He walked in the third and eighth innings, falling one triple short of the cycle, which he achieved on July 10 against the Athletics at Rate Field.
“He’s been outstanding,” said manager Will Venable. “He’s in a really good spot. We’ve seen this level of play from him before. Not the four homers in a row, which is special. But we’ve seen him swing well and be as good as any hitter out there.”
Peters was instrumental in a six-run first inning. The rally started with a bloop double down the left-field line by Sam Antonacci. Munetaka Murakami walked, and Miguel Vargas hit a bloop single in front of left fielder Wyatt Langford. Langford tried to throw out Antonacci at third, but the ball went out of play, allowing Antonacci to score on the error. Braden Montgomery added an RBI single, making the score 2-0. A walk to Colson Montgomery loaded the bases. With one out, Peters drove in two runs with a broken-bat double.
“I was sitting on the heater, waiting for that pitch,” Peters explained. “Rangers starter Jacob deGrom never put that one over the plate. He showed me some good changeups, and I knew he liked his slider, so he finally threw it at 3-2. I’m just trying not to expand in the zone.”
Brenton Doyle followed with a broken-bat, two-run single, increasing Chicago’s lead to 6-0. “DeGrom’s probably not giving up a ton of damage,” Venable noted. “He’s such a good pitcher. It was special to string so many things together early.” DeGrom threw 42 pitches in the inning and exited after 3 2/3 innings, allowing eight runs on six hits with two strikeouts and five walks.
Sox starter Anthony Kay gave up four runs on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 4 2/3 innings. “I felt pretty good,” Kay said. “Didn’t have much command of my changeup or slider. That’s something to work on this week. Finding that release point is key.” He faced trouble in the fifth, giving up a two-run homer to Danny Jansen and an RBI single to Ezequiel Duran before exiting with two outs. The Sox led 8-4, with the Rangers having two on base when reliever Jordan Hicks faced Jake Burger. Hicks struck out Burger, maintaining the lead.
The Sox scored two more runs in the fifth, although the Rangers responded with three runs in the sixth, including a two-run homer by Justin Foscue, cutting the lead to 10-7. Peters extended the lead to four runs with his solo homer in the sixth.
“I know I have power, and I pull the ball a lot in the air. I can hit homers,” Peters commented, hinting at nearing the team record for longest consecutive home run streaks, a mark shared by several prominent players.
The Sox maintained an 11-7 lead into the ninth. The Rangers loaded the bases with two outs, prompting the Sox to call reliever Grant Taylor. The right-hander got Cody Freeman to ground out to Chase Meidroth, who stepped on second to end the game.
“They have a strong lineup,” Venable concluded. “As Anthony was struggling in the fifth, we had to make adjustments. We were a bit misaligned in the bullpen, but we secured enough outs to win.”