Around the Diamond: Vargas grand slam gives White Sox first win of 2026

Chris Paddack entered his new ballpark in his famous cowboy boots and hat to match, but the Chicago White Sox took him out to pasture to spoil his Marlins debut.

The White Sox tagged the veteran right-hander for eight runs on eight hits through the first four innings to win 9-4 on Monday in Miami.

“Not how I envisioned my Marlins debut by any means,” Paddack said. “But I’ve been here before. It’s not an ideal situation to be in to start the year, especially coming off a really good spring.”

Miguel Vargas went 2-for-4 and drove in six runs including a grand slam in the fourth inning in what White Sox manager Will Venable called a “special night” for the Havana, Cuba native.

“I think he was excited to be out there like he is every day,” Venable said. “Just a really nice performance, controlled the zone, obviously some big swings, did a really nice job.”

The White Sox struck first in the third inning on an RBI single from Vargas, followed by a three-run homer from Austin Hays to lead 4-0. Both big hits by Vargas and Hays came with two outs.

“That’s huge,” Venable said, “to keep fighting there and continue to put quality at-bats together. You get good results there when you’re able to do that.”

The Marlins were down 8-0 entering the bottom of the fourth but lived up to their “Fightin’ Fish” motto and struck back. Xavier Edwards drew a walk and scored on a two-run homer by Liam Hicks to make it an 8-2 game. Griffin Conine hit a double in the fifth inning and scored on a base hit by Jakob Marsee to make it 8-3.

Luisangel Acuna didn’t get a hit against the Marlins but found himself on base twice after a walk and a hit-by-pitch. He made the most of it by stealing two bags and scoring each time, including in the sixth inning to provide the White Sox with some insurance in the sixth inning.

“That’s one of the skills that he’s got that we want to unleash and make sure that we’re able to have that impact on the game,” Venable said.

Davis Martin earned the win after allowing three runs on five hits with six strikeouts in five innings pitched. He was in a comfortable place once given eight runs of support.

“It’s great,” Martin said. “Once you get the eight spot, it just turns into how can we attack the zone as efficiently as possible, how can we get guys in and out of the box, and knowing where our bullpen situation was, just trying to get as deep in the game as I could.”

The Marlins (3-1) will round out their rotation on Tuesday with Janson Junk on the mound. Junk earned the fifth spot in the rotation in spring training after recording a 4.17 ERA in 21 games (16 starts) last year.

The White Sox (1-3) will send veteran Erick Fedde in hopes of earning their first series win of the season. Fedde returns to Chicago after a 2025 season in which he went 4-13 with a 5.49 ERA with three different teams.