Luis Robert Jr. hits 26th homer, White Sox rally past Cardinals 8-7 after Montgomery hurt

CHICAGO - All-Star Luis Robert Jr. tied the game with his 26th homer of the season, and the Chicago White Sox rallied past St. Louis 8-7 on Friday night after Cardinals starter Jordan Montgomery left with a right hamstring injury.

Nolan Arenado hit a pair of two-run homers for St. Louis, which took a 5-0 lead in the third and led 5-1 in the fifth when Montgomery departed abruptly. With a 2-1 count on Elvis Andrus, Montgomery tapped the back of his right leg with his glove. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol and trainers went to the mound, and Montgomery walked slowly to the dugout.

"Hamstring grabbed at him," Marmol said. "Kind of his foot slipped as he was coming down the mound. We didn't want him to pitch through it."

Montgomery said his leg would be imaged on Saturday.

"I just kind of slipped on the mound and I guess my body just tried to catch myself," the 6-foot-6 left-hander said. "It's just kind of a freak thing."

JoJo Romero got the final two outs in the fifth but was charged with three of Chicago's five runs in the sixth. Andre Pallante gave up two more runs to cough up the lead.

Arenado put the Cardinals back ahead with his homer in the seventh off Keynan Middleton (2-0). In the bottom half, Kyle Leahy (0-1) gave up Robert's blast and departed with the bases loaded. Chris Stratton came on and walked Zach Remillard to put the White Sox ahead to stay.

Jake Burger homered and drove in three runs for Chicago, and Remillard finished with three RBIs. Kendall Graveman worked around a single and walk in the ninth for his seventh save.

"I was really proud of our resilience tonight," Burger said. "We kept plugging along and putting together a lot of good at-bats. We fought back."

It helped that the White Sox didn't have to face Montgomery.

"He was mixing really well, located his fastball really well," Burger said. "I hope he's OK and it's not a long injury. We were fortunate enough to put on some runs after that happened."

Arenado has gone deep three times in his last two games and has six extra-base hits in his last three. He has 19 home runs this season. The two-homer game was his second this season and the 24th of his career.

Burger homered off Montgomery in the fifth, his 19th. He had a two-run double in the sixth.

Montgomery allowed one run on three hits in 4 1/3 innings. He was seeking his fifth straight win after seven consecutive losses.

"I was pretty much in control, every AB," Montgomery said. "I let one come kind of come more to the middle on Burger there."

White Sox starter Dylan Cease allowed five runs and 11 hits in six innings in his eighth straight no-decision.

"Unfortunately early, it was a struggle," Cease said. "Then I got in a little bit of rhythm later and the offense really bailed me out."

ROSTER MOVE

St. Louis placed INF/OF Tommy Edman on the 10-day injured list with right wrist inflammation and recalled INF José Fermín from Triple-A Memphis. The switch-hitter is batting .239 with seven home runs, 29 RBIs and a team-leading 14 stolen bases. The NL Gold Glove winner at second base in 2021, Edman has played second, shortstop, center field and right field this season.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Marmol said RHP Adam Wainwright had an injection in his strained right shoulder. The 41-year-old went on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday after giving up seven runs in a 15-2 loss at Miami on Tuesday. ... C Willson Contreras didn’t start after having a dental procedure Friday morning in Chicago. Iván Herrera was behind the plate.