RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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As White Sox closer Grant Taylor scuffled through a blown save Sunday, in a ninth inning where he threw just 12 of 29 pitches for strikes, he focused on a delivery cue centered around his back 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 keep the game tied 1-1, did another thought enter his mind.
“While I'm on the mound, I'm just trying to get outs as quickly as possible,” Taylor said to the Sun-Times. “But I knew once I came off it, my team had my back.”
In previous seasons, the bottom of the White Sox order due up wouldn’t be cause to believe Taylor allowing a game-tying RBI single to Mets first baseman Jared Young had actually 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 dead center, and doing it with a yellow custom bat inspired by his Savannah Bananas tenure, is not just conceivable, but the sort of thing the White Sox expect to happen 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,” said Peters, who spit on three misses from reliever Kodai Senga before pouncing on a thigh-high fastball, in keeping with his patient second half approach .
The Sox have the second-best home record in the AL at 39-26, but they’re also procrastinators. Taylor guessed his team had nine walk-off victories this season, and before the Sox snatched both of this weekend’s victories against the Mets with their final swings, he would have been right. After Peters’ walk-off blast on Sunday, and newly acquired backstop Jake Rogers’ clout on Friday–both just beyond the reach of Ewing in center–they’re at 11, tied for second-most in MLB.
“It replicates playoff games pretty well, with how close they are,” said 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,” said rookie left-hander Hagen Smith, who was on the other side of one of the White Sox’ seven walk-off losses earlier in the week in Wrigley Field, but delivered two perfect frames of relief work after being dropped in a two-on, nobody out seventh-inning jam .
Sox manager Will Venable conceded earlier in the season that he’s noticed some gray hairs working their way in, what with his team’s penchant for late-game dramatics, but said his heart is holding up just fine after Sunday.
“Walk-offs mean good things happen,” Venable said. “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 where roughly 90,000 fans packed Rate Field to see their first-place Sox get outscored on balance (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 times this weekend, Antonacci himself said his offensive results “aren’t really there right now,” and Japanese reporters on hand have taken to asking Venable his take on Munetaka Murakami’s quieter second half.
If the Sox were expected contenders cruising to a playoff berth, these might be red flags for their ability to sustain a deep October run. For this team, shocking the world to be at 68-62, the only relevant takeaway from the weekend is they took two out of three.
“It shows what we're all about,” said Sunday’s opener Sean Newcomb. “We just need to keep winning series. Whatever it takes.”
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