Davis Martin the tough-luck loser in White Sox's 1-0 defeat, ending their 4-game winning streak

LaMond Pope, Chicago Tribune on Jul 18, 2026

Published in Baseball

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TORONTO — Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami led off the fourth inning of Saturday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays with a double. He would be stranded at second base.

Right fielder Braden Montgomery began the next inning for the Sox with another double. He advanced to third on a grounder, but that’s where he would be stranded.

The Sox couldn’t take advantage of their opportunities, falling, 1-0, in front of a sellout crowd of 41,775 at Rogers Centre. The Sox were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position as their four-game winning streak came to an end.

Blue Jays starter Shane Bieber limited the Sox to three hits over six scoreless innings. He struck out six and walked two in the 80-pitch outing. The Sox finished with four hits while being blanked for the fifth time this season.

“Bieber did a nice job today,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “I thought he spun the ball really well below the zone, and that kind of caught us in between. I thought we didn’t really take the good swings that we’re used to seeing these guys take.”

Sox starter Davis Martin pitched well in the loss, allowing one run on four hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 5 2/3 innings.

“Mechanically being back in sync,” Martin said. “A lot more loose on the mound, not pressing. Go out there, have fun and enjoy pitching. Felt fresh, felt good. All in all, it was a good day.”

The game’s only run came in the fourth. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a one-out double on a ball that was just out of the reach of a leaping Tristan Peters in center field.

Guerrero scored on a single to center by George Springer, giving the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead. That grounder was just out of shortstop Colson Montgomery’s reach.

Martin enjoyed being in the duel with Bieber.

“You know when they’re on and they have they’re A stuff, you have to bring your A stuff,” Martin said. “Today was just one step behind him.”

Venable said Martin was “really good.”

“I thought he commanded the fastball well,” Venable said. “He was in the zone, pitching to some contact, not a ton of swing and miss today, but really nice job. I think he found the breaking ball, both the slider and the curveball, later in the game. He did a really nice job.”

The Sox just couldn’t produce offensively.

The leadoff batter continued to reach for the Sox in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. They came up empty each time.

The sixth and seventh were via walks. The eighth began with a Chase Meidroth bunt single. Pinch runner Luisangel Acuña then was caught stealing.

“He’s in the game to be aggressive on the basepaths,” Venable said. “That’s one of the best skills we’ve got out there, and that’s his job to go out there and try and advance any way he can. (Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk) made a good throw, and obviously we weren’t able to advance there, but yeah, that was a good aggressive play by (Acuña).”

It was just one of those afternoons for the Sox.

“We couldn’t get anything going even after getting some leadoff guys on there,” Venable said.

Injury updates

Outfielder Austin Hays went 0 for 3 on Friday during his first game on an injury rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte. Hays is recovering from a left calf strain.

“It’s been a really long road for him coming back, so, him feeling good after that is positive, and he’s got some games built out there, will build him up, make sure he’s all right,” Venable said before the game.

Outfielder Everson Pereira joined Hays to begin a rehab assignment Saturday with Charlotte.

“He’s going to be responsibly ramped up here and we’ll kind of build some volume and make sure that he’s in a good spot, also,” Venable said of Pereira, who went on the IL on June 18 with a concussion.

Pitcher Drew Thorpe began a rehab assignment Saturday with the Arizona Complex League White Sox. Venable said that it’s a “really positive” step for Thorpe.

“Talk about a tough road, that’s as tough a road as we’ve seen with these guys that we have here over the last couple of years, and to see him back and pitching is awesome,” Venable said. “Looks like he’s feeling good, the stuff is good, so really positive to see after, one thing after the other with that guy (Tommy John last year, appendicitis this year), and he handled it all so well, so really happy for him.”

Thorpe allowed one hit and struck out three over two scoreless innings Saturday against the Arizona Complex Padres.