Martin's gem guides White Sox to 2nd straight series win

CINCINNATI -- Manager Will Venable wants his team to want more.

The young White Sox are starting to show signs of much improved baseball, and they put that evidence on display again Wednesday in a 4-2 win over the Reds at Great American Ball Park.

Davis Martin allowed one run over a career-high 6 2/3 innings while Michael A. Taylor and Lenyn Sosa belted solo homers to power the White Sox to their third straight win, capturing their second straight series and -- in the process -- spoiling Pete Rose Night for the 43,585 fans in attendance.

The victory was significant for the South Siders, who won their third straight game for the first time this season and have won four of five while securing their first road series of the year. They clinched their second straight series win, a feat they accomplished just twice in all of 2024.

For a second straight night in Cincinnati, the White Sox played the kind of baseball that results in consistent wins: great pitching, timely hitting and stellar defense.

“We really, this whole season, have taken this thing day by day, and so certainly, back-to-back series and a road series win is huge at the same time,” Venable said. “These guys are going to show up [Thursday] not thinking about that. We're going to go out and do our best to win a game. But it's nice for these guys, as hard as they've been working, to get positive results.”

Martin was the story early on. One night after Jonathan Cannon struck out six and walked none in six scoreless innings, Martin went into the seventh inning for the first time in his career, striking out five and walking none, allowing just one run on seven hits.

With his velocity on his fastball averaging 94.5 mph and his sinker moving at 94.2 mph all night, Martin’s secondary pitches were that much more effective Wednesday. And he took full advantage by working in the occasional slider with catcher Edgar Quero calling the game.

“That was the slider we've been working on today,” Martin (2-4) said. “It was really good. Q had a lot of great setups. We were talking in between just what we wanted to do and how we wanted to get there. And Q and the catching group were a big part of that, just getting to a good spot and then giving me a good target. And we executed really well today.”

It was the second straight night a White Sox winning pitcher tossed at least six innings without a walk. Brandon Eisert, Tuesday’s opener, allowed one earned run in the eighth and rookie Mike Vasil pitched the ninth to secure his first career save.

“It's a lot of fun, but whatever they ask me to do, I'll do regardless,” Vasil said. “But yeah, the ninth inning is definitely a roller coaster of emotion. What's funny is I was telling our bullpen coach in the fifth inning tonight, we were talking about my last save, which was in high school. That was the last time I had a save, my senior year of high school. So however many, seven years ago.”

Martin received some great defense behind him, including a terrific play from Luis Robert Jr. in the third inning. Following a leadoff single from Matt McLain, Robert raced to the warning track in straightaway center and reached up to snag a deep fly from Rece Hinds for the first out.

The run-saving play kept Martin scoreless until the seventh, when Spencer Steer led off with a homer to the seats in left-center on a sinker. Martin, who finished with 95 pitches, allowed a hit and then two loud flyouts before leaving the game for reliever Jordan Leasure. The right-hander fanned Hinds to end the seventh.

“After the first two batters, I was like, ‘I don't think I'll be able to ever go in the seventh inning ever again.’ But I made some adjustments, got two outs, Leasure picked me up at the end,” Martin said. “So it's really a good learning experience. The more we get in those situations, the more you're going to learn.”

The White Sox got to Cincinnati southpaw Nick Lodolo (3-4) for seven hits and three runs over 5 1/3 innings.

Sosa nearly had his second homer of the night in the eighth when his line drive to right-center hit high off the padded wall. He settled for a double and a two-hit night. Sosa’s homer in the sixth put the White Sox up 3-0, while Taylor’s shot to the left-field seats to open the seventh made it 4-0.

The 40-minute Pete Rose Night ceremony before the game featured distinguished guests, family and friends of the Cincinnati legend.