Twelve Chicago White Sox players have made their major league debuts this season.

On Wednesday night, the club will look to build on the momentum created by its latest new arrival and take a series from the team with the best record in baseball.

Host Chicago rallied for a 6-5, 10-inning victory against the Atlanta Braves in Tuesday’s opener of a three-game series as right fielder Braden Montgomery punctuated his first major league game with a walk-off, two-run homer.

Montgomery went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, saving his best heroics for last as the White Sox secured their fifth walk-off victory this season and moved a half-game behind the first-place Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central.

“Just how we drew it up,” Montgomery said. “That was … I still don’t know what to say. That was unreal.”

Fellow rookie Jacob Gonzalez added two hits and an RBI for the White Sox, and Miguel Vargas hit his 16th home run as Chicago fought back from an early 4-0 deficit.

While Atlanta first baseman Matt Olson delivered his 18th and 19th home runs of the season, and Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies added three hits apiece, the Braves endured a scare when right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. left in the fourth inning with left hamstring tightness after attempting to run out a grounder.

Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said Acuna will undergo an MRI on Wednesday and is day-to-day. Weiss said the injury “doesn’t seem as bad” as the left hamstring strain that put Acuna on the injured list from May 3-18.

“This one more recently, I don’t feel any pain,” Acuna said. “I just feel a little bit tight, so let’s see what happens with the MRI (Wednesday).”

Left-hander Chris Sale will start for Atlanta on Wednesday. Sale (8-4, 2.23 ERA) is coming off a 7-2 home loss to the Toronto Blue Jays last Thursday, when he allowed three runs and a season-high 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

“You’ve got to chalk it up to just being one of those days, really,” said Sale, who walked two, struck out six and hit a batter. “I just felt like anything that got put in play was a hit. My command was in and out at times. My stuff was pretty good, but it just seemed like they always found holes.”

A first-round draft pick of the White Sox in 2010, Sale went 74-50 with a 3.00 ERA in seven seasons for Chicago, making 148 starts among his 228 appearances. He is 2-2 with a 2.92 ERA in six starts against his former team, with 57 strikeouts in 37 innings.

Right-hander Davis Martin (8-2, 2.61 ERA) is slated to start for the White Sox. Initially set to pitch on Tuesday, he was given an extra day of rest after getting hit hard in a 6-4 loss at Minnesota on June 2.

Martin allowed six runs and 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings, with three walks and two strikeouts.

“We have these off days, and you have the ability to get things lined up to maximize the recovery for guys,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “And Davis, as much as he’s been pitching, we thought the opportunity to give him extra time, make sure that he is recovered well and at his best, was really important.”

Martin has not faced Atlanta in his career.

–Field Level Media

Shortstop Otto Lopez leads the majors in batting average, rookie catcher Joe Mack is coming off a 4-for-4 game, and Miami has won six of its past seven games.

In other words, this team is hot. And the host Marlins will try to clinch their third straight series on Wednesday night when they take on the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“Joe Mack — what a day,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said after Miami defeated Arizona 10-6 on Tuesday in the series opener. “Otto continues to come through.”

As to McCullough’s first point, Mack, 23, became the youngest Marlins catcher ever to have a four-hit game.

“I’m trying to stay short,” Mack said of his swing.

Meanwhile, Lopez is batting .341 after hitting .246 last season, and McCullough said he should be an All-Star.

“He’s making a strong case every day,” McCullough said. “Otto has been a hitting machine since Day 1 of the season, and he’s played high-level defense. It’s hard to find someone at that position having a better year.”

The Marlins, who had 15 hits on Tuesday, will try to provide right-hander Ryan Gusto (0-1, 10.80 ERA) with similar production.

Gusto, 27, has pitched most of this season at Triple-A Jacksonville, going 4-2 with a 3.83 ERA, and he might be limited to roughly 50 pitches on Wednesday. He has never faced Arizona, and this will be just his second MLB start this season.

Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks will start right-hander Ryne Nelson (2-4, 4.60 ERA), who has faced the Marlins just once and has no decisions and a 1.50 ERA. He allowed just one run in six innings in a 3-2 loss on April 15, 2023.

This season, Arizona is 5-8 when starting Nelson, who has been solid with the exception of a disastrous start against Toronto on April 19. He got just one out in that game, allowing eight runs in a 10-4 loss.

Since then, Nelson posted a 2.95 ERA in six May starts. And, in June, he has a 2.57 ERA in one start.

But Nelson promises he won’t let down.

“The moment you get comfortable,” Nelson told MLB.com, “that’s when you can slip.”

Nelson on Wednesday hopes to get support from an Arizona lineup that features two-time All-Star right fielder Corbin Carroll (.930 OPS) and three-time All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte (.755 OPS).

Carroll, the 2023 National League Rookie of the Year, hit his 11th homer of the season on Tuesday.

Gabriel Moreno, considered one of the best all-around catchers in baseball, also homered on Tuesday. He has a .764 OPS and five homers — just four short of his career high. His issue has always been that he is regarded as injury prone.

As for the left side of Arizona’s infield, third baseman Nolan Arenado (.771 OPS) and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo (.702 OPS) have been solid this season.

Perdomo broke out last season with career highs in doubles (33), triples (five), homers (20), RBIs (100), steals (27) and OPS (.851).

–Field Level Media

As Shohei Ohtani continues his attack on the record books, he will take the mound for the 11th time this season when the Los Angeles Dodgers face the Pirates in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.

Ohtani (6-2, 0.74 ERA) will oppose fellow right-hander Jared Jones (1-0, 4.82) of the Pirates as he continues not only his chase of a third consecutive National League MVP, but perhaps his first Cy Young Award.

Ohtani next will try to continue one of the best starts by any pitcher in major league history. His ERA is the third-best through the first 10 starts of a season, behind only Jacob deGrom (0.56 in 2021) and Juan Marichal (0.59 in 1966) since earned runs became a stat in 1913, according to MLB.com.

In his most recent start, Ohtani threw six shutout innings, allowing two hits and one walk with six strikeouts, in a 7-0 win over Arizona last Wednesday. And his success on the mound has had no ill effects on his performance at the plate, as Ohtani is hitting .411 since May 12. His batting average has risen from .233 to .301.

Ohtani reached base five times in the Arizona game, joining Hod Eller (1920), Mel Parnell (1951) and Mel Stottlemyre (1964) as the only players who have done that and pitched six or more scoreless innings in the same game since 1900.

“I think a lot of starting pitchers, you feel your way into a game and you give up a couple early and you bear down,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But I’ve noticed with Shohei, every run is a premium. He’s literally trying to throw a shutout every time he goes out there, where I don’t know if every starter has that mindset.”

Ohtani’s lone career start against the Pirates didn’t go well, though. He gave up five runs on six hits, including four home runs, despite striking out nine on July 21, 2023, as a member of the Los Angeles Angels.

The Pirates could use a similar performance in Ohtani’s PNC Park pitching debut as they try to snap a four-game skid.

Pittsburgh is banged-up, with center fielder Oneil Cruz dealing with a left hand laceration and rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin sidelined by a right forearm strain.

Griffin said to reporters on Tuesday that he was told by a doctor not to throw for two full weeks. According to Todd Tomczyk, the Pirates’ director of sports medicine, there’s no concern about Griffin needing surgery.

Pittsburgh’s bullpen continues to struggle after three relievers combined to allow 10 runs in the seventh inning on Tuesday night in a 12-3 loss to the Dodgers.

Jones will make his third start since returning from a 20-month absence due to elbow surgery. He bounced back from a rough first outing on May 29 by pitching five shutout innings and allowing four hits and two walks while striking out four last Thursday in a 5-1 win at Houston.

Jones pitched six shutout innings and allowed only three hits in his lone career start against the Dodgers — a 1-0 win — on June 4, 2024.

Jones, who grew up in Los Angeles County and attended Dodgers games, said recently that he was excited to face Ohtani.

“He’s been one of the best pitchers in baseball this year, so it’ll be a fun matchup,” Jones said.

In a move on Tuesday, the Pirates traded right-handed pitcher Carson Fulmer to the Seattle Mariners for cash considerations.

–Field Level Media