Vargas’ walk-off – Miguel Vargas delivered a two-out, walk-off home run in the 10th to lift the White Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Tigers, turning Rate Field into a celebration bigger than the team’s own fireworks as the crowd stayed loud even through nine straight innings of b
CHICAGO — The song “Holding Out for a Hero” from the iconic movie “Footloose” was playing at Rate Field Friday as the staff arranged for postgame fireworks.
It was supposed to be the grand finale.
Instead, the hero arrived minutes earlier.
Miguel Vargas ended it with a two-out, walk-off home run in the 10th, giving the White Sox a 4-3 victory over the Tigers. The 30,019 in attendance erupted into unofficial fireworks that felt louder than even the organization’s top-notch pyrotechnic display.
Vargas connected on a 0-1 pitch from Drew Anderson with Drew Romo on second. He fired his bat in celebration toward the home dugout, slammed his chest a few times for effect, then circled the bases for his first walk-off hit.
“First,” a jubilant Vargas said. “In my career, in my life.”
It was also home run No. 13 for Vargas. completing a three-RBI night and turning a rare downer into something that felt playoff-like for these young South Siders. They weren’t just trying to win — they were facing their final out with the Tigers still hanging around in the final inning. and they had already taken a hit earlier when slugging first baseman Munetaka Murakami left with right hamstring tightness after beating out a one-out fielder’s choice grounder to second in the third inning.
Manager Will Venable expected Murakami to be out a couple of weeks. The 26-year-old would get imaging on Saturday, Venable said, and “nothing was official.” In the 10th, Derek Hill grounded out to third in Murakami’s spot, setting the stage for Vargas to deliver.
Vargas smiled through the moment as he described what he was trying to do — and how it worked out.
“Since Mune wasn’t in the game, I have to step up and take that power hitting. No, I’m just kidding,” Vargas said. “I tried to drive in the runner and put the team in position to where we can win the game. I got lucky. I got the right pitch and put a good swing on it, and we got good results.”
For Erick Fedde, the right-hander who allowed two runs over four bulk innings, the finish captured everything about this team’s current mood.
“Nuts,” Fedde said of the walk-off. “The boys battled back in the ninth, and obviously the walk-off — down to our last out — just the way this team has been this year has been so much fun to be around. Proud of the guys.”
The comeback started in the ninth, when the White Sox were down 2-1. Andrew Benintendi tied the game with a single off Kyle Finnegan. Smart baserunning moved Tristan Peters’s single into something more — with Benintendi getting to third on Peters’ hit — and then Benintendi came home after Finnegan paused and threw to first on Rikuu Nishida’s bunt.
That sequence didn’t just erase a deficit. It reinforced the way this lineup keeps looking for each other on the bases, a play-for-each-other style that has defined the evening.
Murakami’s absence also forced the issue in a way that couldn’t be ignored. His 20 home runs had been a cornerstone of the offense, and yet the 10th inning still found a way to produce.
Pitching to Vargas seemed like a calculated risk. especially with Anderson against him in a righty-on-righty situation. and especially with first base open. But the Tigers’ decision didn’t land how they needed it to. If they chose to work around arguably Chicago’s best overall player this year. they were still left with Colson Montgomery waiting.
For all of that, what stood out most was what happened when the game turned into a test of belief.
The White Sox had moved to a season-high three games over .500 at 30-27, and they sent an energetic crowd home with the kind of euphoria that spreads faster than fireworks ever could.
Vargas said the confidence in the room wasn’t new — it was just finally showing up at the right time.
“I said that earlier in the season. Probably a lot of people don’t believe me,” Vargas said of the team being good. “I think the clubhouse did believe in that. We put that on the field every day. Now we are just full of a lot of confidence.”
Venable pointed to the daily environment as the engine behind the late-game moments.
“These guys make it fun,” Venable said. “The clubhouse environment is great. Just the attitude that these guys bring to the field every day makes us as coaches, and really everybody, excited to come to work every day, as well, and see what they’re going to do.”
Even in the biggest career moment of his season. Vargas had one small miss — a celebration habit he normally doesn’t forget. He has choreographed a “hang up the phone celebration” with third-base coach Justin Jirschele on home runs. but on Friday’s walk-off. he missed the act as if Jirschele wasn’t there.
His omission was understandable. Rate Field had been loud all night, and by the time it mattered most, the game felt like it belonged to the fans.
“We all feel the support. Today even being down all nine innings, they stay in the stadium,” Vargas said. “That means a lot for us. They want to win. They want to see us winning games,”
Fedde heard it too, not as background noise but as pressure that lifted the whole room.
“Talking to the guys on the bench, I was like ‘Man, this place is sneaky packed today if we utilize it,’” Fedde said. “You’ve got to credit the fans to wins like that. The place was loud, it was electric. It makes the guys play better, makes your team feel pressure. I love seeing it.”
Miguel Vargas White Sox Tigers Rate Field walk-off home run Erick Fedde Munetaka Murakami Will Venable Andrew Benintendi Kyle Finnegan Drew Anderson Tristan Peters Rikuu Nishida Drew Romo
Wait so the fireworks got cancelled for the homer? Kinda awesome though.
The walk-off HR is cool but also why was “Holding Out for a Hero” even playing like that at a baseball game lol. Crowd was still loud for NINE innings?!
I don’t get it, if they were setting up the fireworks and then the HR happened, does that mean they *still* launched them? Also 4-3 sounds close, but the Tigers were “hanging around” like they were just vibing in the 10th.
Vargas chest-bumping and throwing the bat like that… that’s the kind of stuff that makes people forget about injuries. But Murakami hamstring tightness for “a couple weeks” sounds serious, so I hope they’re not rushing him back just for the playoffs energy. And Rate Field sounds loud enough to break glass I swear.