As White Sox nearer Grant Taylor scuffled by a blown save Sunday, in a ninth inning the place he threw simply 12 of 29 pitches for strikes, he centered on a supply cue centered round his again foot’s placement on the pitching rubber.
Only after he struck out Mets rookie A.J. Ewing with 98.6 mph at the letters to strand the bases loaded and hold the sport tied 1-1, did one other thought enter his thoughts.
“While I’m on the mound, I’m just trying to get outs as quickly as possible,” Taylor stated to the Sun-Times. “But I knew once I came off it, my team had my back.”
In earlier seasons, the backside of the White Sox order due up wouldn’t be trigger to imagine Taylor permitting a game-tying RBI single to Mets first baseman Jared Young had really put him in line for the win. In 2026, All-Star centerfielder Tristan Peters sealing a 2-1 rubber match victory with walk-off homer to lifeless middle, and doing it with a yellow customized bat impressed by his Savannah Bananas tenure, isn’t just conceivable, however the kind of factor the White Sox count on to occur as they cling to first place in the American League Central.
“It’s a little less stressful when we have a big lead, but we handle those stressful situations really well,” stated Peters, who spit on three misses from reliever Kodai Senga earlier than pouncing on a thigh-high fastball, in keeping with his patient second half approach.
The Sox have the second-best dwelling document in the AL at 39-26, however they’re additionally procrastinators. Taylor guessed his group had 9 walk-off victories this season, and earlier than the Sox snatched each of this weekend’s victories in opposition to the Mets with their last swings, he would have been proper. After Peters’ walk-off blast on Sunday, and newly acquired backstop Jake Rogers’ clout on Friday–each simply past the attain of Ewing in middle–they’re at 11, tied for second-most in MLB.
“It replicates playoff games pretty well, with how close they are,” stated Sam Antonacci. “Being able to have a bunch of those under our belt if we are fortunate enough to make the playoffs–that’s one of our goals–just hit the ground running.”
“I feel like we are never out of a game,” stated rookie left-hander Hagen Smith, who was on the different aspect of certainly one of the White Sox’ seven walk-off losses earlier in the week in Wrigley Field, however delivered two excellent frames of aid work after being dropped in a two-on, no one out seventh-inning jam .
Sox supervisor Will Venable conceded earlier in the season that he’s observed some grey hairs working their approach in, what with his group’s penchant for late-game dramatics, however stated his coronary heart is holding up simply nice after Sunday.
“Walk-offs mean good things happen,” Venable stated. “Yet another example of these guys just continuing to battle. The fans and the support from the city and the environment that’s been created, makes these walk-off moments a little more special.”
In one swing, Peters’ redeemed a weekend the place roughly 90,000 followers packed Rate Field to see their first-place Sox get outscored on stability (15-13) by the last-place Mets. Trade deadline headliner Luis Castillo has a 5.89 ERA in a White Sox uniform after being shelled on Saturday. Colson Montgomery struck out seven instances this weekend, Antonacci himself stated his offensive outcomes “aren’t really there right now,” and Japanese reporters readily available have taken to asking Venable his tackle Munetaka Murakami’s quieter second half.
If the Sox had been anticipated contenders cruising to a playoff berth, these could be purple flags for their skill to maintain a deep October run. For this group, stunning the world to be at 68-62, the solely related takeaway from the weekend is that they took two out of three.
“It shows what we’re all about,” stated Sunday’s opener Sean Newcomb. “We just need to keep winning series. Whatever it takes.”