Colson Montgomery goes ‘boom,’ slams his way out of slump: Is rookie en route to White Sox’ homer lead?

Colson Montgomery’s deli order Saturday night?

One salami, please.

The White Sox’ rookie shortstop flexed his power with a second-inning grand slam, the biggest bop in a 7-3 win over the Twins. The Sox have been racking up the runs of late, with 37 runs scored in their last five games.

Montgomery’s power display continues to impress as he keeps looking like a cornerstone in Chris Getz’s rebuilding project.

“I’ve always had some juice growing up, and now I’m finally growing into my body and understanding my swing,” Montgomery said. “And that’s what it comes down to the most, using your whole body with swings.

“I would say, yeah, I’ve been a power hitter my whole life.”

The slam was Montgomery’s 12th homer of the year, all coming in his last 27 games. He’s now five homers behind infielder Lenyn Sosa for the team lead, something he seems capable of capturing by season’s end.

The last two efforts from Montgomery – he collected four hits across two games, with homers in each – have seen him break out of a funk that saw him bat just .143 over his previous 14 games.

It’s all part of the ongoing development for a young player, an introduction to the major league chess match of dueling adjustments between pitchers and hitters.

“It can be frustrating and aggravating, just because you want to go up there and try and make a difference in a game. And sometimes you might not get pitches to do that on,” Montgomery said. “I’ll admit it, I was trying to be a little too much, trying to do too much, swinging at pitches I haven’t really been swinging at. You kind of have to just be patient and really just assess and adjust to what they’re doing.

“And after that, you go boom.”

Launched by Luis

Center fielder Luis Robert Jr. also went boom Saturday, lasering his 14th homer of the season at more than 111 miles an hour.

Robert’s struggles last year and over the first three months of this campaign were well documented and shifted the perception of a one-time MVP-type player.

But lately, he’s looked a lot more like the player that was expected, batting .306 with six homers and 21 RBIs since the start of July, to go along with a season’s worth of elite base-stealing (33 on the year) and defensive play.

“He’s still Luis Robert, man,” starting pitcher Davis Martin said. “He’s still the best player I’ve ever played with. It’s fun to see him loosen up and really be a focal point on this team.”