Braden Montgomery showed up for his big league debut and immediately became part of the fun.
The Chicago White Sox have been one of baseball's most pleasant surprises this season. With a 38-32 record, they're atop the AL Central. That's after losing 102 games last year and a record 121 in 2024. So the vibes were already good when Montgomery played his first major league game Tuesday night.
Then he sent a drive to left in the bottom of the 10th for a two-run homer to win the game, 6-5 over the Atlanta Braves. Montgomery became the fifth player to hit a walk-off homer in his debut, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He joined Billy Parker, Josh Bard, Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Pérez.
Montgomery is Chicago's No. 2-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline. The outfielder was a first-round draft pick by Boston in 2024, then he was part of the trade that sent Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox before last season.
The White Sox finished the week by taking two of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers. That was after beating Atlanta twice in a row.
There are two obvious candidates this week. Yoshinobu Yamamoto retired the first 23 batters he faced Saturday and took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before allowing a leadoff homer in the Dodgers' 7-1 win over the White Sox.
But even that wasn't as impressive as Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski's one-hitter against Philadelphia on Friday night. He struck out 15 in a 6-0 win and threw a pitch at 104.5 mph, the fastest by a starter since tracking began.
Misiorowski became the fifth pitcher since 1903 to strike out at least 15 with no walks while throwing either a no-hitter or a one-hitter. Who were the others?
The San Francisco Giants were eight runs behind in the eighth Wednesday against Washington when they scored five runs in each of the final two innings to win 11-10. San Francisco's win probability was 0.2% in the eighth according to Baseball Savant.
Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers led off the bottom of the eighth with home runs, and after a pair of walks, Daniel Susac doubled home a run. Two more came home on a groundout and a wild pitch.
After the Nats extended the lead to 10-6, Luis Arraez and Chapman led off the bottom of the ninth with consecutive doubles to pull the Giants within three. After a walk and a single loaded the bases, Bryce Eldridge won it with a grand slam.
Teams trailing by at least eight runs in the eighth inning or later had lost 4,291 consecutive games, according to Sportradar. The last team to win after facing such a deficit was Cleveland against Tampa Bay in 2009.
Kerry Wood of the Chicago Cubs struck out 20 in a one-hitter on May 6, 1998, against Houston.
Pedro Martinez of the Boston Red Sox struck out 17 in a one-hitter on Sept. 10, 1999, against the New York Yankees.
Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals struck out 17 in a no-hitter on Oct. 3, 2015, against the New York Mets.
Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers struck out 15 in a no-hitter on June 18, 2014, against Colorado.
Only Misiorowski faced the minimum 27 batters.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Chicago White Sox's Braden Montgomery celebrates after hitting a walk-off two-run home in the 10th inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves in Chicago, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Chicago White Sox's Braden Montgomery, back, hugs teammate Jacob Gonzalez (7) after hitting a walk-off two-run home run in the 10th inning of a baseball game to defeat the Atlanta Braves in Chicago, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
BETHESDA, Md. & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 15, 2026--
Curator Hotel & Resort Collection (“Curator”), a membership-based collection of independent boutique and lifestyle hotels and resorts, today announced a strategic partnership with Canary Technologies (“Canary”), a leading hospitality technology platform. Through Curator’s Preferred Vendor Program, Curator members will receive preferred access to Canary’s AI-powered guest management platform and digital guest journey tools.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260615367045/en/
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (“Pebblebrook”), one of Curator’s founding sponsors and the largest owner of urban and resort lifestyle hotels in the United States, is working with Canary as part of Pebblebrook’s strategic focus on improving the guest experience, increasing hotel-level productivity and enhancing operating efficiency.
Canary Technologies is the leading agentic AI platform for hotel and guest management, trusted by more than 20,000 properties worldwide. From booking to post-stay, Canary powers tens of millions of guest and staff interactions each year to drive revenue, improve efficiency and elevate the guest experience. Canary’s AI suite delivers omnichannel guest engagement, hotel-specific workflow automation and deep integrations across the hotel tech stack, freeing teams of admin tasks so that they can focus on what they do best: hospitality.
“Independent lifestyle hotels thrive because they are distinctive, creative and deeply personal,” said Jennifer Barnwell, President of Curator Hotel & Resort Collection. “The opportunity is to provide these hotels with modern tools that reduce friction behind the scenes while preserving the human connection that makes special. Canary gives our members access to a powerful, hotel-specific technology platform that can improve responsiveness, drive ancillary revenue, streamline operations and enhance the guest experience — all while allowing each property to preserve its own voice and identity.”
Through the partnership, Curator members will have preferred access to Canary solutions across several high-impact operating areas:
AI-Powered Guest Communications: Canary’s Omnichannel AI platform enables hotels to communicate with guests across voice, text, webchat, OTA channels and business-profile messaging. Canary’s AI Voice can answer guest calls, support reservations, respond to concierge and property questions, manage common guest-service requests, send folios and seamlessly hand off more complex matters to hotel staff. Canary’s AI Guest Messaging, AI Webchat, AI OTA Messaging and AI Business Profile tools provide instant, property-specific responses across digital channels, including SMS, WhatsApp, websites, OTAs, Google and Apple business profiles.
Digital Arrivals and Secure Transactions: Canary’s Mobile Check-In, Tablet Registration, Self-Service Kiosk, Mobile Key and Front Desk QR Code solutions help hotels modernize arrivals, reduce lobby friction and move repetitive administrative tasks away from the front desk. Its secure transaction tools include Digital Authorizations, Payment Links, PCI-compliant card collection, Digital Contracts, deposits and payments for sales and catering, and related payment workflows.
Revenue-Generating Guest Engagement: Canary’s Dynamic Upsells, Guest Hub/Digital Compendium and F&B Mobile Ordering tools help hotels present relevant offers and property information throughout the guest journey. Properties can promote room upgrades, early check-in, late checkout, amenities, experiences, food and beverage, spa, parking and other add-ons through pre-arrival, in-stay and departure touchpoints.
Smarter Departures and Team Support: Canary’s Smart Checkout helps guests select departure times, request late checkout, review folios and leave feedback, while giving housekeeping and operations teams better visibility into room turnover. Canary’s Digital Tipping gives guests a simple cashless way to recognize service teams, supporting employee engagement and retention.
“At Pebblebrook, we view AI and automation as practical operating tools to improve the guest experience—not technology for technology’s sake,” said Raymond D. Martz, Co-President and Chief Financial Officer of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust. “The objective is simple: create a more seamless guest experience and free our hotel teams to spend more time delivering thoughtful service. Canary’s platform supports that objective by combining AI-powered voice, messaging and webchat with digital arrival and departure tools, secure payment solutions, mobile ordering and dynamic upsell capabilities. Together, these tools improve guest responsiveness, increase productivity and help our hotels create more connected moments throughout the guest journey.”
Canary’s platform is built specifically for hotels and integrates with major PMS and CRS providers, enabling properties to personalize communication, streamline workflows and centralize guest interactions across multiple channels. Its AI Agent Studio also allows hotels to tailor AI agents to property-specific workflows, brand voice, business rules and guest-service needs.
“Curator and Pebblebrook understand where hospitality is headed,” said Rebecca Sheehan, Head of Strategic Alliances at Canary Technologies. “The best hotel technology should help teams deliver better service, not distract from it. Our platform gives independent hotels enterprise-grade AI and guest-management tools that are easy to deploy, highly flexible and built around real hotel workflows. We’re excited to continue this partnership with Curator and support Pebblebrook as they continue using technology to improve productivity, guest satisfaction and hotel profitability.”
“Curator was built to help independent hotels compete together while staying independent,” added Barnwell. “This partnership is a natural extension of that mission. Canary gives our members a modern toolkit to operate more efficiently, communicate more effectively and monetize the guest journey more thoughtfully — without forcing a one-size-fits-all approach.”
About Curator Hotel & Resort Collection
Curator Hotel & Resort Collection is a distinct collection of small brands and independent lifestyle hotels and resorts. Curator provides access to a wide breadth of program offerings to enhance the guest experience, improve employee engagement, provide additional marketing support, and drive incremental revenue, all while allowing the properties to retain their unique individuality. In addition, Curator offers the benefits of associating with other unique lifestyle hotels, resorts, and small brands while participating in best-in-class operating agreements, services, reporting, and technology. Visit www.curatorhotelsandresorts.com and follow us @CuratorHotelsResorts.
About Pebblebrook Hotel Trust
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (“REIT”) and the largest owner of urban and resort lifestyle hotels in the United States. The Company owns 43 hotels, totaling approximately 11,000 guest rooms across 13 urban and resort markets. For more information, visit www.pebblebrookhotels.com and follow @PebblebrookPEB.
About Canary Technologies
Canary Technologies is modernizing the hotel technology stack with its award-winning agentic AI platform for hotel and guest management. Digitizing and automating touchpoints from booking to post-stay, Canary’s cutting-edge solutions simplify hotel operations, increase revenue and elevate the guest experience. Enabling these innovations is Canary AI, the most advanced agentic AI platform built for hospitality. Trusted by 20,000+ hotels in 100+ countries, Canary powers the world’s top hospitality brands and has been recognized as an industry innovator by Fast Company, Deloitte, Business Insider and more. For more information, visit https://canarytechnologies.com.
Hotel Zephyr
