CHICAGO – There was a brief moment at the end of a 6-5 walk-off victory for the White Sox over the Guardians on Monday night at Rate Field where it wasn’t a certainty that Chicago had actually won. Sam Antonacci delivered a two-run single with two outs off Cade Smith, arguably one of the best closers in the game, bringing home Braden Montgomery and Tristan Peters. But the play at the plate on Peters was close thanks to center fielder Daniel Schneemann’s throw – close enough for the Guardians to challenge. When the call was upheld, most of the 23,151 in attendance went crazy. As for the White Sox players? They began circling Antonacci near the home dugout and finished surrounding him while euphorically running into left-center field. It unofficially had to be one of the longest White Sox celebrations, distance-wise, on record. “They covered a lot of ground,” White Sox manager Will Venable said with a smile on his face. “Great for them and those guys are obviously very happy.” "I saw the coolers. Trying to dodge that,” Antonacci said. “Yeah, they were fun.” Antonacci’s first-pitch connection became the sixth walk-off hit for the White Sox this season. “Walk off” over the previous three 100-plus-loss seasons usually was what the White Sox did as they piled up defeats. Three rookies have delivered game-winners, with Antonacci joining Peters and Montgomery, who hit the walk-off homer off Raisel Iglesias in his Major League debut. The last season the White Sox had three rookies with a walk-off hit came in their division-winning run of ‘21, when Nick Madrigal, Yermín Mercedes and Gavin Sheets did the honors.
