CHICAGO -- Sal Stewart remembers the first fastball sailing over his head. What happened after the second one struck his helmet is less clear.
“You kind of black out a bit when they go up at your head,” Stewart said.
But Stewart remembers what came next. He pointed toward Davis Martin and shouted, “That’s two in a row.” His teammates poured from the dugout. The bullpens emptied. And when order returned to a rainy Rate Field, Stewart got up, took his base and continued doing what he had done all afternoon.
He kept moving forward.
Stewart scored the tying run in the third inning, delivered the go-ahead single in the fourth and crossed home plate four times in the Reds’ 9-8 victory over the White Sox on Thursday. Cincinnati responded to the frightening sequence by scoring six runs across the next four innings, building just enough cushion to win the series.
“It’s no fun having somebody throw at your head,” manager Terry Francona said. “But he’s not backing down.”
That response revealed more about Stewart than any confrontation could. The rookie declined to accuse Martin of intent and repeatedly tried to keep the incident from becoming bigger than the game. But he did not hide how unnerving it was to see consecutive fastballs near his face.
Martin apologized after the first sailed to the backstop. The next one struck the flap of Stewart’s helmet.
“Things happen. Maybe it slipped,” Stewart said. “But then the very next pitch came right back at my face. More than anything, it was just a scary moment.”
Francona was more forceful, calling the sequence “extremely blatant” and “terrible.” Eugenio Suárez joined the exchange near the mound, not looking for a fight, but wanting Martin to understand the danger.
“Don’t hit him in the face or head because it’s dangerous,” Suárez said. “Nobody wants to lose a career because of a hit-by-pitch.”
Stewart’s most meaningful answer arrived after play resumed.
He advanced to third on Tyler Stephenson’s single and an error by Chicago's right fielder Braden Montgomery and Stewart scored when Suárez lifted a sac fly to center, tying the game at 4. One inning later, Stewart lined an RBI single to score Ke’Bryan Hayes and give Cincinnati the lead for good. Stephenson followed with a three-run homer that pushed the advantage to 8-4.
The sequence completed a striking reversal from Wednesday, when Stewart recorded both Cincinnati hits in a 5-0 loss. He again ignited the offense Thursday, only this time everyone behind him joined in.
Stewart opened his afternoon by crushing Martin’s hanging slider a Statcast-projected 419 feet to left field for his 26th homer. Stephenson was hit by a pitch later in the inning before Suárez narrowly cleared the left-field wall with a two-run shot.
Stewart finished 2-for-3 with a homer, a walk, a hit-by-pitch, two RBIs and four runs. Stephenson reached four times, scored twice and drove in three, while Suárez collected four RBIs. Together, the three produced every Cincinnati run.
“He kept going and producing,” Suárez said of Stewart. “He’s been really good. For me, he and Elly have been the best hitters in our lineup. It makes me better, makes Stephenson better and makes everybody better.”
Suárez went further, strongly endorsing Stewart for National League Rookie of the Year, an honor his production increasingly demands he be considered for as the season moves forward.
Andrew Abbott described Stewart’s influence differently. The rookie’s confidence is not loud, Abbott said, but his fire is unmistakable.
“He’s one of our sparks,” Abbott said. “He provides energy. That situation with Davis [Martin] was a testament to us knowing how important he is for our team and what he can provide.”
The Reds needed every bit of that energy. Abbott labored through 4 1/3 innings, and a five-run lead dwindled to one by the ninth. With closer Emilio Pagán unavailable because of hand soreness, Julian García allowed an RBI single before inducing a game-ending groundout with the tying run aboard.
It gave Cincinnati a series victory after arriving in Chicago fresh off of being swept in Washington. It also ensured Stewart’s eventful afternoon ended with the result he preferred discussing.
“I don’t want to make this a big deal,” Stewart said of the hit-by-pitch. “When you play 162 games, a lot of things happen.”
Asked later about the series, his tone brightened.
“There you go,” Stewart said. “That’s the question I want to hear.”
For Stewart, there was little need to dwell on two pitches near his head. His four trips across home plate said more about how he responded.