The Reds spent most of Tuesday night in Chicago looking like a team that had already heard this script too many times. Then the game flipped.
Cincinnati opened its series against the White Sox with a 5-4 extra-inning win, a comeback that gave the club a badly needed lift after being swept by the Washington Nationals on Sunday. The turnaround didn’t come easily, and for a while it looked like another frustrating night was headed the Reds’ way.
Nick Lodolo’s return was supposed to help steady things. Instead, the left-hander’s first start in a month came with some rust.
He worked four innings, allowed four runs and struck out five on 70 pitches. Chicago did most of its damage through the air, tagging Lodolo for three home runs.
Even so, Cincinnati found a way to stay alive.
The Reds didn’t record their first hit until the fifth inning, when Eugenio Suarez launched a solo home run. That was the first crack in the wall.
The bigger break came in the eighth, when Cincinnati finally put together the kind of rally it had been missing all night. The Reds scored three runs in the frame to erase a 4-1 deficit and tie the game.
Tyler Stephenson delivered the key swing, lining a clutch single that brought home Michael Toglia and Elly De La Cruz to make it 4-4.
In the 10th, the Reds kept pressing. Toglia and De La Cruz each lifted deep fly balls that were enough to bring in Matt McLain, and that run proved to be the difference.
Emilio Pagan closed it out for Cincinnati, picking up his 14th save in 17 attempts. Since returning from a hamstring injury, Pagan has looked like a different pitcher, and he helped finish off one of the Reds’ most satisfying wins of the season.
Game two of the series is set for Wednesday night at 7:40 pm ET, with Rhett Lowder scheduled to face former Reds starter Luis Castillo.
In Other News...
Hunter Greenes Latest Setback Leaves The Reds Facing A Brutal Reality
Hunter Greenes latest elbow setback has turned a season that was already going sideways into something far more sobering for the Reds. The right-hander was limited to just five starts in 2026 because of elbow issues, and his 6.83 ERA in that stretch never gave Cincinnati much reason to believe a turnaround was around the corner. For a team that invested in Greene with a six-year extension in 2023, the expectation was stability at the front of the rotation. Instead, the Reds are staring at another long stretch without one of their most talented arms.
The bigger concern now is how much time Greene will miss and how long the organization will be dealing with the fallout. His contract runs through 2028 with a club option for 2029, so this is not just a short-term setback for the Reds but a major roster and payroll problem layered on top of the baseball loss. Cincinnati has built plenty of its recent outlook around Greenes upside, and the reality is that the club will have to keep moving without him for a while. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Face Huge 2027 Rotation Test Without Hunter Greene
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Chase Burns, Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo give Cincinnati a strong starting point, and Rhett Lowders return from injury has added another encouraging layer. The Reds believe that group can keep them in the mix for a playoff push in 2027, even if Greene is not part of that equation for a while. The question now is how quickly that depth can translate from promise to production. [Read more 🡒]
Rhett Lowder Is Finally Giving Reds Fans A Real Reason To Believe
Rhett Lowders first full season of real expectations has taken a winding path, from injuries wiping out all of 2025 to an early-season stretch that pushed him out of the rotation and into the bullpen. For a Reds team always looking for homegrown pitching to stabilize the picture, his development has mattered almost as much as his results, because the organization drafted him in 2023 with the hope he could become part of the next wave.
Since he returned to starting, the signs have been better. Lowder has put together a 3.22 ERA over his last four starts and has shown improved control, which is exactly the sort of progress Cincinnati needed to see after the rocky start. He has said the time in the bullpen gave him a different view of pitching and game management, and even if the bigger test is still ahead, he is at least giving the Reds reason to think the upside is still very much there. [Read more 🡒]