TAMPA, Fla. — Colson Montgomery’s first career home run couldn’t stop the Rays from cooling off the red-hot White Sox on a stifling night in Tampa Tuesday, as Chicago starter Davis Martin ran into trouble in his return from the injured list.
Martin showed signs of rust after a month on the shelf when he walked three batters and then balked one home in the second inning. A single from Rays’ second baseman Jose Caballero and a throwing error by Sox outfielder Michael A. Taylor gave Tampa two more runs, and an RBI groundout from Taylor Walls made it a 4-0 lead.
Martin rebounded from his ugly second inning to complete five innings, giving up three hits, walking four and striking out three.
Rays starter Drew Rasmussen held the Sox hitless until Mike Tauchman doubled to open the fourth inning. Chase Meidroth singled him in to get the Sox on the board and later scored on a sac fly from Edgar Quero.
Montgomery narrowed the gap to 4-3 when he looped his 359-foot blast around the right field foul pole for his first homer, a 105-mph line shot off Rays’ reliever Bryan Baker.
Career home run no. 1 for Colson Montgomery!! pic.twitter.com/0AMK3z5Yf4
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 23, 2025
“I wouldn’t really say I was pressing about getting my first big league homer,” Montgomery said afterward. “I just knew I had to kind of get on base, do whatever I could for the guys to get something rolling.”
But the Sox couldn’t roll out more of the offensive firepower they had tapped over their previous four games, when they racked up an MLB-high 35 runs.
The Sox made MLB history — the good kind, for a change — with their torrid start to the second half, becoming the first team ever to win each of their first four games out of the All-Star break by five runs or more.
Rest for Robert
Luis Robert Jr. was conspicuously absent from the Sox lineup in just the fifth game back after the All-Star break, with the center fielder in the midst of an eight-game hitting streak with two home runs and eight RBI.
Nevermind general manager Chris Getz taking calls below the Steinbrenner Field concourse with the trade deadline looming just over a week away.
Manager Will Venable called it a scheduled day off to keep Robert “plugged in. The way he was running around out there in Pittsburgh, and a hot day yesterday, just want to keep him fresh and feeling good.”
The Sox have an off-day after Wednesday’s series finale with the Rays.
Leasurely crowds
This week’s series in Tampa has been a homecoming for Sox reliever Jordan Leausure, a native of nearby Riverview who played at the University of Tampa.
The 26-year-old righty had dozens of family, friends and former teammates in attendance to watch him throw a clean frame in Monday’s 8-3 win over the Rays.
“It’s a huge baseball town for sure,” Leasure said. “Honestly, just getting to stay at home right now is nice. “
Wheeling and dealing
Shortstop prospect Billy Carlson, the Sox’ first-round draft pick out of California in last week’s draft, signed a $6.2 million deal with the team, according to MLB.com. Their second-rounder, Jaden Fauske of Nazareth Academy in LaGrange Park, signed for $2.9 million.
Rookie reliever Wikelman Gonzalez was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte to make room for Martin on the active roster.