Davis Martin said he had no intention of beaning the Reds’ Sal Stewart in the third inning of the White Sox’ 9-8 loss Thursday, but the circumstantial evidence was enough for the umpires to think otherwise, adding another verse to the sad song that is becoming Martin’s season.
Stewart had launched Martin’s seventh pitch of the game 419 feet for a solo home run. Later in the first, Martin plunked Tyler Stephenson and allowed a homer to Eugenio Suarez. By the time Stewart came up again, Martin had thrown several pitches to the backstop. He was not sharp.
With the count 0-1, Martin sailed his next pitch over Stewart’s head. The following pitch grazed the bill of Stewart’s helmet, knocking it off. Stewart held the barrel of his bat and pointed the knob at Martin, then held up two fingers, indicating that Martin had come up and in twice.
That’s when the benches and bullpens emptied. No punches were thrown, but a lot of words were exchanged. Video showed Suarez approaching Martin, saying, “That’s not right, that’s not right. Come on, now.”
“I thought that was extremely blatant,” Reds manager Terry Francona said afterward. “You can’t throw two balls like that head-high. You kill somebody. I thought that was terrible.”
Crew chief and plate umpire Alan Porter appeared to agree, telling a pool reporter that the umpires thought Martin intentionally threw at Stewart.
“First inning, Stewart hit his home run and probably admired it a little too long at the plate,” Porter said. “The next at-bat, first pitch, [Martin] threw a strike, and then the next pitch went well above [Stewart’s] head, but definitely in his direction. And then he hit him with the next pitch. At that point, we needed to do what we needed to do to keep the game safe.”
Davis Martin has been ejected from today’s game vs. the Cincinnati Reds.
Erick Fedde is now in the game. pic.twitter.com/O3PKtnlCdK
— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) August 13, 2026
Porter had not warned Martin, and he didn’t need to, saying, “Intentionally throwing at a batter is grounds for an immediate ejection.”
Martin and manager Will Venable denied intent. Martin said the two pitches were supposed to go low and away. Venable said Martin was dealing with a blister and explained that to the umpires, but to no avail.
“Just lost grip of the ball,” Martin said. “The first one went over his head, I made eye contact, said, ‘My bad.’ I have no intention of doing that. And then the second one we were trying to drive a fastball down and away, which is a good reset for me, and then I just lost it again.
“Blister on the [middle] finger, I probably lost a little bit of the grip there. Guys just picked me up after the first inning, we’re up 4-3 and obviously the last thing I’m trying to do is start something there. … But at the same time, you go up and in twice, it’s a dangerous spot. So I understand it.”
Davis said he noticed the blister after the second inning. Walking off the field, he said he saw “a big hole in my finger.” Venable said Martin will make his next start if the blister isn’t a problem.
What continues to be a problem for Martin is the first inning. He has allowed 15 runs in the inning in his last four starts.
“He’s struggling. There’s no two ways about it,” Venable said. “Obviously, the first inning has been tough for him. Seen some runs scored early; seen him settle down nicely after that. He’s got to figure out how to get back on track.”
Davis said the earlier start didn’t affect him. With rain in the afternoon forecast, the Sox moved up the game time one hour to 12:10 p.m.