Column: A modest April is good enough for the Chicago White Sox to dream

In other words, atrocious starts have ruined the Sox’s season before anyone had a chance to get excited. So this sudden change of atmosphere, modest though it may be, has been a most welcome diversion on the South Side.

“It feels like we’ve found different ways to win some of these ballgames that maybe last year we wouldn’t have won, or maybe even earlier in the year we wouldn’t have won,” Venable correctly pointed out.

The division-leading Detroit Tigers were only .500 Wednesday night and 1 1/2 games ahead of the third-place Sox. It’s not a strong division, and the Sox will get plenty of chances later this year to prove themselves against the favorites.

“There’s a lot of belief in this clubhouse that if we start sniffing .500 and then get above it, there’s no turning back,” starter Erick Fedde said.

The Sox are now 5-3 in one-run games, a recurring problem last year when they went 15-36.

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“We’re a team that’s never going to give up or back down until the game is over,” Montgomery said. “That’s who we are. We’re all going to compete until the end.”

Fedde had a strong performance before a kid-dominated Weather Day crowd of 15,901, allowing only solo home runs to Mike Trout and Vaughn Grissom over seven innings.

The Sox trailed 2-1 in the ninth when Tristan Peters was hit by a pitch and stole second, setting fans up for Sam Antonacci’s two-out, RBI triple to right that tied the game at 2-2 and sent it to extra innings.

After a scoreless 10th inning from Seranthony Domínguez, former Cubs left-hander Drew Pomeranz was ordered by Angels manager Kurt Suzuki to intentionally walk Miguel Vargas to face left-handed hitting Munetaka Murakami, whose 12 home runs lead the majors. But Pomeranz walked Murakami to load the bases, and after a force play at the plate, Montgomery came through in the clutch to end it.

It was a wacky series for the Sox, who endured a three-hour rain delay Monday in a comeback win led by Murakami’s three-run home run. Sources said MLB mandated that the game be played despite the long delay so the teams could avoid playing a doubleheader.

In Tuesday’s 5-2 Sox win, switch-hitting rookie catcher Drew Romo became the seventh player in MLB history to hit his first two career home runs from each side of the plate, which he called “the best day of my life.”

Romo told me Wednesday morning he received 55 text messages and celebrated in the clubhouse with “a funny tradition we do when someone hits their first home run.” Later on, he watched the video of the home runs “over and over.”

So what’s the funny tradition?

“It might be top secret,” he said.

I agreed to stay out of White Sox business for Romo’s sake, but just this once.

The day after the best day of his life, Romo was back on the Sox bench for the series finale with Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi on the mound. Venable instead started Edgar Quero, who was 0-for-21 against lefties and hitting .169 for the season.

Quero’s struggles might force Venable to make a tough decision and give Romo more time behind the plate while Kyle Teel heals. If the Sox are as good as they believe, Venable must put winning ahead of development.

Romo, a former Colorado Rockies player, spent the winter being waived, signed, and designated for assignment over and over, making Tuesday’s big night more special.

“I was with (the Rockies) for so long, and then with the snap of a finger I’m on my fourth team,” he said. “But it’s worked out great. It feels like I’m right where I’m meant to be.”

The same could be said of most of the White Sox, a group that’s learning how to survive in the majors together. They aren’t exactly world-beaters, but at least they’re not beating themselves. And that’s a step Sox fans have been waiting for the last four years.

“I feel like right now we’re just laying a brick every single day,” Montgomery said. “Just building every single day.”