Chicago White Sox Hammer Taj Bradley Again In 8-0 Win Over Twins

CHICAGO –– Facing a familiar foe Sunday afternoon, the White Sox produced a familiar outcome.

On July 23, they faced right-handed pitcher Taj Bradley when he was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays and tagged him for four runs in 1.2 innings. The Rays optioned Bradley to Triple-A that night, and later traded him to Minnesota in exchange for reliever Griffin Jax.

Bradley made four starts in the Triple-A in between, but his last two starts in the Major Leagues have come against the White Sox. That gave the team a good sense of how to attack Bradley Sunday afternoon at Rate Field, and it led to an 8-0 victory and series win.

"We know he's got a great fastball," White Sox rookie Kyle Teel said. "I feel like our focus was just to get on the heater."

And that's exactly what they did. The White Sox began the game with three straight singles by Mike Tauchman, Miguel Vargas and Teel, two of which were against Bradley's fastball. Edgar Quero followed two at-bats later with another single, and the White Sox took a 3-0 lead after the first frame.

"I thought we did a good job the first time against [Bradley] in Tampa and then today, he probably would say he didn’t have his best stuff as far as command," White Sox manager Will Venable said. "Especially when we were able to force him into the zone and make some good contact."

The trio at the top of the lineup each reached base again to begin the second. Teel's second single of the day drove in another run, as did Robert's fielder's choice ground out. That brought up arguably the White Sox hottest hitter, Colson Montgomery, who homered in the last two games and hit his first career grand slam Saturday night.

Bradley left an 87.3 mph cutter down the middle, and Montgomery clobbered it 423 feet to right field for a two-run home run, giving the White Sox a 7-0 lead in the second. That represented Montgomery's 13th home run in the last 38 games and third in the last three games.

"When he’s getting the meat of the bat to the ball, it’s going out of the ballpark," Venable said. "That’s been great, he’s in a good spot. Just got to keep it going."

Pitching with the comfort of a big lead, rookie right-hander Yoendrys Gomez logged another solid outing in his third start with the White Sox. He held the Twins scoreless across 4.2 innings with two hits, three walks and six strikeouts.

The White Sox claimed Gomez off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers in May and optioned him to Triple-A after allowing three earned runs in 3.1 innings out of the bullpen. While in the Minor Leagues, Gomez worked on utilizing his sinker, cutter and changeup more frequently, and the result has been a well-rounded arsenal and success in the big leagues.

"It helps me to get quicker outs and to show the hitters different shapes of my pitches, too," Gomez said. "That way they aren't waiting just for one pitch. I can attack with different pitches."

Center fielder Luis Robert Jr. helped the pitching staff out with several impressive defensive plays, including two diving catches with runners on base.

"It seemed like he was on a mission to not let anything fall," Venable said. "We’ve seen him make good plays. To see three or four that he made today, in some big spots, was awesome."

With this win, the White Sox improved to 47-83. The continue a 10-game homestand Monday at 6 6:40 p.m. CT against the Kansas City Royals, with All-Star Shane Smith taking the mound against Royals' left-hander Noah Cameron.

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