Reds 9, White Sox 8: Three Homers, Then a Ninth-Inning Hold

August 13, 2026 - Chicago - The Cincinnati Reds led 9-4 in the sixth and still needed the last out at shortstop. Edgar Quero had just singled home a run. The Chicago White Sox had the tying run on and the winning run at the plate. Sam Antonacci bounced to short. Julian Garcia had his second save. Final: 9-8, rubber game to Cincinnati, and a Rate Field crowd that spent the last two innings believing a comeback was coming.

Sal Stewart scored four times and homered. Eugenio Suárez drove in four. Tyler Stephenson hit a three-run shot in the fourth that made it 8-4. Tejay Antone threw a scoreless inning for the win (2-0). None of that made the ninth quiet.

Three in the first, benches in the third

Stewart homered in the first. Stephenson was hit with two outs. Suárez went to left for two more. 3-0 before Chicago hit.

The White Sox answered. They scored one in the first and three in the second, Randal Grichuk doubling in two of them. 3-4, and the Reds' early homers had not bought them a lead they could keep.

Davis Martin then threw up and in on Stewart twice to start the third, hitting him with the second pitch. Both benches and bullpens emptied. Order came back quickly. Martin was ejected. Suárez's sacrifice fly tied it at 4-4.

Stephenson's fourth, then Chicago climbs

The fourth was the inning Cincinnati actually won. Ke'Bryan Hayes scored on Stewart's single, Elly De La Cruz already on. Stephenson hit a three-run homer off Erick Fedde. 8-4. Fedde took the loss at 6-8.

Tanner McDougal, in his major league debut, walked the bases loaded in the sixth and hit Suárez with a 3-0 pitch. 9-4. That extra run mattered.

Chicago scored in the fifth. Andrew Benintendi singled in two in the eighth, Chase Meidroth and Antonacci having set it up. 9-7. Miguel Vargas struck out on a full-count curve from Pierce Johnson with runners on the corners. Quero's ninth-inning single made it 9-8. Antonacci's grounder ended it.

Meidroth had two hits, two walks, and two runs. Grichuk drove in three. The White Sox had 12 hits and still lost. They had won three of four coming in. They are 62-58 and still first in the AL Central. Cincinnati is 58-62 and took the series.

A messy win that still counts

Stewart's four runs and Stephenson's three-run homer are the box-score headlines. The baseball story is a 9-4 lead that became a one-run game because Cincinnati could not put Chicago away, and Chicago could not get the last hit. Antone's clean inning is why someone got a W. Garcia's shaky ninth is why it felt like a save.

Chase Burns starts Friday at home against Miami. The White Sox open at Detroit.

AthX Engine angle

The Reds finished with 13 AthX Engine team fantasy points. Stewart and Stephenson each had 12 hitting fantasy points. Suárez had 10. The White Sox finished with 6 team fantasy points despite 12 hits, because a one-run loss does not grade like a blowout win. Meidroth had 8 hitting fantasy points. Grichuk had 7.

Track Stewart, Suárez, and the Reds on the marketplace. AthX Engine grades the night. Price is what the market pays tomorrow.

*Sources: MLB.com gameday wrap, AP recap via CBS, AthX Engine daily scoring for August 13, 2026. Information only; not financial advice.*