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Montgomery went the other way against the shift, and Kyle Teel was able to beat out a throw at the plate to give Chicago a 3-0 lead. Montgomery has driven in a pair of runs and hit .333/.455/.778 in his three postseason games.

Montgomery, who spent more than half of the year batting cleanup or higher, had hit eighth a few times lately, but this is the first time he’s been at the very bottom of the lineup. The 24-year-old finished the year in a 4-for-62 slump with no homers and 34 strikeouts in his final 19 games. The White Sox lineup: LF Sam Antonacci, C Kyle Teel, 3B Miguel Vargas, 1B Munetaka Murakami, DH Andrew Benintendi, CF Tristan Peters, RF Braden Montgomery, 2B Chase Meidroth, SS Montgomery.

Montgomery’s strikeout today moved him past Adam Dunn’s White Sox record, set in 2012, and into a tie with Mark Reynolds’s 2009 major league record. The White Sox have clinched a postseason spot, so Montgomery could do some sitting this weekend. However, there’s no way he’ll sit out all three games in an attempt to avoid breaking the record. It’s just not that big of a deal, especially for a 24-year-old with 31 homers and 87 RBI as a shortstop and third baseman for a playoff team,

Montgomery had a nice game Friday, but even then, he still struck out twice. He’s up to 216 strikeouts with seven games to go. It’s the seventh-highest total of all time, and he’s currently seven behind Mark Reynolds for the major league record. However, there’s the chance he could overtake Reynolds and not wind up as the record holder, since Kyle Schwarber entered today at 214.

Montgomery broke the game open in the first inning with a three-run double off of Andrew Sears that made it a 5-0 ballgame. He then scored on an RBI double off the bat of Miguel Vargas. He also singled in the ballgame. With his two-hit night, the 24-year-old infielder is slashing .206/.291/.422 with 31 homers, 87 RBI and one stolen base on the season.

Montgomery was removed from Wednesday’s game with a left wrist contusion and was held out of Thursday’s lineup as well as a precautionary measure. He’s back in there at shortstop and batting eighth against Tigers’ rookie southpaw Andrew Sears on Friday evening in Chicago.

The encouraging development here is that X-rays came back negative for any fractures after Montgomery was hit by a pitch during Wednesday’s critical showdown in Cleveland. The 24-year-old shortstop is presumably day-to-day heading into Thursday’s series opener against the Tigers. It wouldn’t be surprising if he needed a couple days off to rest and recover.

Montgomery is the 25th player to fan 200 times in a season and third member of the White Sox after Adam Dunn struck out 222 times in 2012 and Yoán Moncada fanned 217 times in 2018. The three tonight put him at 201, so Montgomery is 22 away from tying Mark Reynolds’ major league record with 17 games to play.

Montgomery’s home run was his 31st of the season. He hit a solo shot off Taj Bradley in the first inning. Montgomery now has three home runs in his last six games. He’s hitting .213 with a .734 OPS and 82 RBI.

He hit a 96 mph Zebby Matthews fastball over the bullpen in right-center, it landed 416 feet from the plate and made the score 4-0. Montgomery’s been all-or-nothing of late, hitting .182 over his last 15 games but with four homers and a .436 slugging percentage. He hasn’t exactly taken a major step forward -- he’s on pace to strike out over 230 times -- but the power is still here and still playing in fantasy leagues even if the batting average is hurting you for it.

Montgomery led off the fourth inning with a single, then later drove in two runs on a double in the fifth. He then drew a walk and scored a run in the seventh. The 24-year-old shortstop is hitting .216/.296/.438 with 29 homers, 63 runs scored, and 79 RBI across 550 plate appearances.

Montgomery’s home run was his 29th of the season. He smashed a solo shot off Bennett Sousa in the seventh inning. Montgomery was 20-for-100 (.200) with four home runs and 14 RBI in 26 games in August. He’s hitting .214 with a .729 OPS and 77 RBI this year.

Montgomery is 0-for-13 with nine strikeouts the last three days, and he’s hitting just .188/.254/.313 in 33 games since the break. His strikeout rate is currently sitting at a dreadful 34 percent, which is up from 29 percent in 71 games as a rookie last year. It’s not a good sign for the future.

After a two-hour and 23-minute rain delay interrupted play following the first inning, the White Sox plated four runs in the third inning, which was punctuated by Montgomery’s three-run shot which landed beyond the fence in the right field corner. Montgomery entered Sunday’s action with a .136 batting average over his last 11 games, so hopefully this will get him going in the right direction. The White Sox won two out of three this weekend and hold a 2.5 game edge over the Tigers in the AL Central. After this weekend, the Guardians are four games back.

Montgomery has just one hit in his last five games, though that was a homer. Still, he’s down to .215/.295/.450 at the moment, giving him both his lowest average and OPS since late April. He’s batting .191 with 10 homers and six doubles since the beginning of June, compared to .234 with 15 homers and 11 doubles over the first two months.

Montgomery was held out of Sunday’s game against the Astros with a shin injury, but returned as the DH against the Yankees on Monday. The 24-year-old got on base four times and had two RBI and a run scored in the loss. He’s hitting .224 with a .769 OPS and 61 RBI.

Montgomery returns to Chicago’s lineup at DH and hitting cleanup following a one-game absence after fouling a ball off his lower right leg for the second time in the last week. The 24-year-old slugger will probably need a couple extra days of rest and treatment before he’s able to return to playing shortstop, but it seems highly unlikely that he’ll require a trip to the injured list.

Montgomery fouled a ball off of his shin during the ninth inning of Saturday’s battle against the Astros. It was the second time in less than a week that he fouled a ball off of the same spot and was still experiencing soreness after receiving treatment on Saturday evening, so the White Sox will play it safe and give him a full day off to recover on Sunday. Luisangel Acuña will start in his place at shortstop and bat eighth against Astros’ righty Ronel Blanco.

Montgomery finished his at-bat in the ninth despite again getting himself in the same area of the shin that cost him Tuesday’s game. “It was just above where it got him the other day, so pretty sore,” manager Will Venable said. “Obviously was able to finish that at-bat. He’ll get treatment and see where we’re at tomorrow.”

Let’s try this again. Montgomery is back at shortstop and hitting cleanup after being scratched from Tuesday’s lineup out of an abundance of caution. The 24-year-old slugger suffered a contusion when he fouled a ball off his right shin during Monday’s series opener. It doesn’t appear to be a significant concern moving forward.