White Sox surrender 3 more home runs in 6-5 loss to Nationals

LaMond Pope, Chicago Tribune on Sep 27, 2025

Published in Baseball

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WASHINGTON — Chicago White Sox pitcher Sean Burke recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts after following opener Tyler Gilbert on Saturday afternoon.

But the Sox again struggled to keep the ball in the park, falling 6-5 to the Washington Nationals in front of 24,360 at Nationals Park.

The Sox surrendered three home runs, including back-to-back blasts to Jacob Young and James Wood in the pivotal seventh inning.

The Sox entered the bottom of the seventh leading 4-2. Young hit a tying two-run home run against reliever Steven Wilson. Wood followed with the tiebreaking home run against Brandon Eisert.

The Sox have allowed nine home runs in the series, six in Friday’s 10-9 win and three more Saturday.

“Hard to keep them in the ballpark right now,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “We have to find a way to limit their damage. We have to do a better job tomorrow, come out and keep them in the ballpark.”

At 59-102, the Sox are tied for the third-most losses in a season in franchise history. The Sox also lost 102 games in 1932.

The Sox squandered a four-run lead Saturday.

After a 40-minute rain delay before first pitch, Colson Montgomery helped the Sox take the early lead. The shortstop, who provided the late-game heroics Friday, hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning. It was his 21st of the season.

“He’s been great,” Venable said. “You’ve seen and we’ve talked about the adjustments he’s been able to make. For him to continue to put good swings on baseballs, we’ve seen a lot recently against lefties too.

“You look at the journey he’s been on this season, he’s proven he can make adjustments and deal with the adversity.”

Brooks Baldwin added a two-run home run later in the inning.

Daylen Lile hit a two-run shot in the fourth to cut the Sox lead to 4-2. Those were the only runs allowed by Burke, who scattered three hits and walked one to go along with the 10 strikeouts.

“I just felt good with how the ball was coming out and how my stuff felt today,” Burke said. “Today was probably the most impressed I’ve been with (catcher Kyle) Teel and how he called the game and just being on the same page. And I thought we did a really good job of sticking to my strengths. And then throwing a little wrinkle in there, and then just getting back to what we were doing well.”

The 10 strikeouts surpass his previous high of eight on July 27 this season against the Chicago Cubs.

“I thought Sean was great,” Venable said. “The fastball command was great. He had a really good fastball, down in the zone with it. Saw some 98s, 99s. He did a really nice job.”

The Nationals resumed their power display in the seventh with the two home runs that put them ahead. They added another run in the eighth via an RBI single from Wood against Cam Booser.

It turned out to be an important run. Derek Hill drove in a run with an infield single in the ninth to bring the Sox within 6-5. They had runners on the corners with two outs, but Nationals reliever Jose Ferrer struck out Chase Meidroth to end the game.

The series — and 2025 season— concludes Sunday.

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