CINCINNATI -- Miguel Vargas exceeded rookie limits in 2023. He could be accurately described as a fourth-year big leaguer with 750 career plate appearances.
But for the purpose of finding a narrative thread after a long, rain-filled day at the ballpark, his back-breaking three-run bomb off Emilio Pagan in the 10th capped off a trio of young White Sox hitters turning a potential heartbreaker into arguably the most cathartic victory of the 2025 season.
After Edgar Quero's three hits constituted most of the Sox offense through nine innings in Ohio, fellow rookie Chase Meidroth slapped a face-high fastball for a two-out go-ahead RBI single, setting up Vargas to ambush a first-pitch heater for a shocking knockout punch to the left field porch.
"This one feels really good," Vargas said. "Games like today really make us more proud and trust more in what we're doing."
MIGUEL VARGAS! LET'S GOOOOO pic.twitter.com/WcfTarESTb
— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) May 14, 2025
Jonathan Cannon & Co. were chasing a 1-0 shutout entering the ninth when Will Venable tapped Steven Wilson for the save. Since being re-added to the roster last month, Wilson can both credibly claim to be the Sox hottest reliever and also has given up homers and blown saves in each of his last two appearances after Elly De La Cruz took a full count cement mixer most of the way to Covington, Kentucky. To Wilson's credit, he shrugged off De La Cruz's leadoff solo shot to deliver a 1-1 game to the fateful 10th, struck out two, and is probably still the White Sox's hottest reliever.
"These guys continue to fight," said Will Venable. "The De La Cruz homer was a big blow, but a great job by our bullpen. [Brandon] Eisert with the start, obviously Jonathan did a great job. An outstanding job by the bullpen and a great job with our offense there late to continue to push and fight."
The White Sox were batting 1.000 with runners in scoring position through six innings, because after Vargas opened the top of the fourth with a bloop double to center, Quero immediately followed by pushing a hard grounder through the right side to plate him. But as the Sox offense finally generated more opportunities, their efficiency quickly took a hit.
Andrew Vaughn greeted reliever Graham Ashcraft by lacing a leadoff double to right to start the seventh, but his funky foot-first oversliding of the bag portended future difficulties. After a Lenyn Sosa single put runners on the corners with no one out, Venable pinch ran Brooks Baldwin for Sosa, which was worth doing in a vacuum and provided for a smooth defensive replacement. But it didn't address the matter at third, which soon came to the forefront after Tim Elko struck out.
In fairness to Vaughn, Josh Rojas' quick chopper to first might have just led to a traditional 3-6-3 inning-ending double play to extinguish the threat. Instead, first baseman Spencer Steer opted to target the slowest runner after stepping on the bag, easily finding Vaughn several steps short of home for his league-leading third out at home plate on the season.
Cannon's stat line of six scoreless, walkless innings is up there with some of his best work on the season, but is best remembered for how he wriggled out of his bouts of adversity. After a Matt McLain one-out double in the third, Michael A. Taylor put down a potential uprising by racing down a Connor Joe drive to the wall in right center. When Elly De La Cruz opened the fourth with a bullet single, Cannon wiped it out by getting Austin Hays to roll over a 2-0 cutter for a deflating double play.
Spencer Steer led off the fifth with a double and reached third with one out, but when Cannon pranced off the mound to corral a high chopper from McLain, Steer was caught in no-man's land and was gunned down easily in a doomed attempt to retreat back up the baseline. A Will Benson infield single and stolen base essentially duplicated the same jam to start the sixth, only for Cannon to induce fly outs from the Reds' 2-3-4 hitters to end the threat.
"We knew we were so close," Cannon said. "At the beginning of the year, just one thing here, one thing there, but we were playing clean baseball. And so it's starting to see some of that clean baseball turning into wins. Some timely hitting, some good pitching, and we've won three out of four, so looking to make it four out of five tomorrow."
By the time the eighth inning rolled around, it was Jordan Leasure trying to strand another runner at second. But Quero gunning down Connor Joe as he tried to steal third felt very in line with the sort of tightrope walking that defined Cannon's night, and paired nicely with four times on base for the Sox rookie catcher.
"I just reacted," Quero said. "I wasn't waiting for him to steal third base, I just saw him running and just reacted and threw the ball."
But instead of 95th percentile situational pitching giving room for the Sox to build a healthy cushion, it was an absolute necessity to preserve the slimmest of margins until a furious finish.
"It's a game of ups and downs," said Meidroth. "To have them tie it up in the ninth when you feel like you had that whole game, so it's good to come back in the 10th and regroup and put up a good [four] runs and give the ball back to our pitching staff, who did an excellent job tonight and shut it down. It's awesome moving forward. We're going to turn the page, get on to tomorrow and keep the momentum going."
Bullet points:
*Reds centerfielder TJ Friedl had a short, unpleasant evening. Cannon plunked him on the right wrist with a full count cutter in the third, and he stayed in only to get spiked by a sliding De La Cruz as they both converged on Vargas' bloop double in the fourth. He was out of the game by the fifth. At least his X-rays were negative.
*Matt Thaiss kept the 10th alive with a two-out walk, his 19th of the year. Not only did big hits overshadow his clutch effort, he is only second on the club in walks behind -- shockingly -- Luis Robert Jr, whose OPS is back under .600 after an 0-for-5 night.
*Because the Sox sprang for four runs in the 10th, Cam Booser didn't get a save for nailing down the last three outs. The bullpen as a whole is 2-for-9 on save chances for the year.
*Quero has two three-hit games, and six multi-hit performances in his first 21 appearances as a big leaguer.
*After Eisert's scoreless first, White Sox openers have a collective line of 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 7 K, 2 BB.
*The start of the game was delayed by rain for one hour and 46 minutes.
