CHICAGO -- Standing off to the side of Will Venable, a few feet away from the White Sox manager as he discussed a 6-5 comeback victory over the Yankees in 12 innings on Wednesday at Rate Field, was a team camera man wearing a T-shirt aptly encapsulating the 2026 White Sox.
“Southside Magic,” it read.
That shirt also featured Mike Vasil and his wand, which now will be a giveaway for 20,000 fans on the Sept. 4 game against the Twins. But that’s a story told earlier Wednesday and one that will be told many times in the next month.
Wednesday’s White Sox tale was one of perseverance against Cam Schlittler, the American League Cy Young Award favorite, who held the White Sox to one hit over the first six innings. It’s one of fortitude and a never-say-die attitude shown since the early part of Spring Training.
It’s one even involving a little luck. How so, you might ask?
With two outs and Munetaka Murakami on third in the 11th inning and the Yankees holding a 5-4 lead, catcher Ali Sánchez inexplicably tried to pick him off on a pitch to Andrew Benintendi. The ball bounced by Ryan McMahon, New York’s surprised third baseman, and Murakami scored the tying run.
There was life for the White Sox. Life, leading to Edgar Quero’s soft single to center off Ryan Yarbrough to score Tristan Peters with the game-winning run. Venable elected to bunt Chase Meidroth to get Peters to third, setting the stage for Quero, who exited the night with a .184 average and a .477 OPS.
The White Sox (56-51) now have eight walk-off hits this season. Despite his year-long offensive struggles, Quero is the only player with two.
“Good feelings, man. Especially right now,” said a smiling Quero. “Starting the season a little slow, coming up in that situation is pretty good for me. It feels amazing.”
“It was a dogfight out there with the back-and-forth stuff,” Murakami said through interpreter Kenzo Yagi. “Just to pull this one off, it really means a lot.”
This one didn’t seem possible after one inning, let alone 12 innings. The Yankees (61-47) scored four off Davis Martin in the opening frame, punctuated by Spencer Jones’ three-run home run, and Schlittler was darn near unhittable.
Credit Martin for settling down after the rocky first, allowing no runs over the next five innings and setting a career high at 106 pitches. That extra workload didn’t bother the veteran right-hander, not with this exciting final outcome.
“I actually asked to keep letting me go out until I died,” Martin said with a wry smile. “Physically felt fine. Just grinded through some stuff in that first inning and found a groove and kept going.
“Don’t worry about how many runs you are about to give up. Just try to do something for your team. Try to put us in a good position for tomorrow. I didn’t realize it would put us in a good position for tonight.”
Going through the list of White Sox standouts in this win basically involves listing off most of the roster. Sam Antonacci’s two-run homer off Paul Blackburn, followed by Murakami’s 23rd long ball on the next pitch, tied the game at 4 in the eighth.
Grant Taylor worked a career-high 2 1/3 innings and was ready to go more. Jordan Hicks pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the 12th, striking out Ben Rice on four pitches and retiring Sánchez on a routine grounder to second.
“Not the way I drew it up, but it worked out,” Hicks said. “Today was the hardest I’ve thrown all season. Just being in and around the zone.”
“Our bullpen was incredible. There’s no other way to put it,” Martin said. “Making pitches at the right time. Getting out of jams. Even when things weren’t going right, they found a way to get it done. Really, really awesome to watch.”
There were 31,694 frenzied fans at Rate Field who watched the first White Sox victory in this four-game set, keeping Chicago 1 1/2 games ahead of the Guardians in the American League Central. Martin also watched in the Chicago clubhouse, sharing a similar feeling with the White Sox faithful.
“From pretty upset to hopeful to the roller coaster of extra innings,” Martin said. “I was in here pacing the whole time.”
If only Martin had trusted in that South Side Magic, his concerns could have been alleviated.
“For us to scratch and claw and hang in there as long as we did, give ourselves a chance to win,” Martin said. “It makes us all excited.”
“We're going to be ready to go tomorrow no matter what,” Venable said. “Obviously, we like the result here.”