CINCINNATI – During a season with 10 one-run losses in the first 37 games, Elly De La Cruz’s game-tying, ninth-inning home run brought an ominous feeling.

But after giving up the 435-foot moonshot, White Sox reliever Steven Wilson settled in and retired the next three batters to force extra innings. And this time, the White Sox wouldn’t let another close game slip away.

With two outs in the 10th, Matt Thaiss kept the inning alive with a six-pitch walk, carefully taking pitches high and out of the zone. Rookie shortstop Chase Meidroth, looking to get on top of a fastball and take it the other way, did just that, slapping a high fastball through the right side for a go-ahead single.

To give the White Sox some breathing room, third baseman Miguel Vargas followed with a three-run home run off Emilio Pagan. Left-hander Cam Booser shut it down in the 10th to secure the White Sox 5-1 win over the Reds late Tuesday night at Great American Ballpark, their first extra-inning win since September of 2024.

“Great job by the guys, they continued to fight,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Being down to two outs there and a great at-bat by Matty Thaiss, obviously a big knock by Chase and the blow by Vargas. So just really proud of the guys for continuing to fight.”

“It’s great. These guys continue to fight. Obviously the De La Cruz homer was a big blow, but a great job by our bullpen. [Brandon] Eisert with the start, obviously Jonathan [Cannon] 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.”

After a rain delay of one hour and 46 minutes, the White Sox used an opener Tuesday for the first time since April 29, and it went according to plan. Venable liked left-hander Brandon Eisert’s matchup against the top of the Reds lineup, and thought the strategy gave right-hander Jonathan Cannon a chance to pitch deep into the game.

He was right on both accounts as Eisert pitched a perfect first inning with a strikeout and two groundouts. Cannon followed with one of his strongest outings of the season, pitching six shutout innings with four hits, zero walks and six strikeouts. That represents Cannon’s longest outing of the season with zero earned runs.

“I thought me and [catcher Edgar Quero] did a really good job just kind of keeping them off balance,” Cannon said. “I thought all the pitches were working pretty well tonight. We were really locating the sinker, locating the sweeper and the changeup, and obviously, when I’m locating all those, it’s gonna be a good night usually.”

Cannon finished his outing especially strong, retiring nine of his last 10 batters. He fielded his position well in the fifth, too, gloving a high chopper down the first base line and throwing out Spencer Steer at third base. Cannon struck out Connor Joe in the next at-bat to end the inning, a sequence he thought killed the Reds’ momentum.

“I didn’t see him go at first,” Cannon said of his play to retire Steer at third. “I mean, I thought he was going to go, and so I went and grabbed the ball and like, as I grabbed it, I see him stop, and as I plant to go chase him down, my foot slips and I see him running back to third. was able to make a good throw to Vargy and got him out. But that was a huge momentum shift.”

As Cannon cruised on the mound, Quero showed his value in a variety of ways. After a leadoff double from Vargas in the fourth, Quero hit an 0-1 curveball to the opposite field and gave the White Sox a 1-0 lead.

With three hits Tuesday night, he raised his average to .303 and his OPS to .751 in his first 77 major league plate appearances. Quero said pitchers started to adjust to him by throwing backdoor breaking balls, so he’s been working on adjusting to that in response.

At the plate and behind it, Quero continued to impress early in his MLB career. Representing the tying run in the eighth inning, Joe tried to take third base with one out, but he was caught stealing by Quero, who said he wasn’t waiting for the steal attempt – he just reacted. In the next at-bat, White Sox reliever Jordan Leasure induced an inning-ending lineout by Santiago Espinal.

“That’s huge, and that got us out of a jam there,” Venable said. “The catchers have done a great job. Matt and the job he did last series, and Q with that play was huge. And those guys have been doing a great job.”

Three White Sox 25 years old or younger – Meidroth, Quero, Vargas and Cannon – came through in key moments Tuesday night. Meidroth and Vargas provided the RBI in the 10th, while Quero had a strong defensive night and notched three hits. But even the veterans, like Michael A. Taylor’s ranging play on the warning track, or Booser closing it out, came through in a big way.

That made for a well-rounded win and brought good vibes in the clubhouse ahead of Wednesday’s 7:14 p.m. ET start.

“We knew we were so close. I mean, at the beginning of the year, like, just one thing here, one thing there, but we were playing clean baseball,” Cannon said. “And so it’s starting to see some of that clean baseball, turning into wins, and then some timely hitting, some good pitching, and, you know, we’ve won three out of four, so looking to make it four out of five tomorrow.”