CHICAGO — Derek Hill had a conversation with manager Will Venable before a 10th inning at-bat in Friday’s home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rate Field.

“Skip came out and was like, ‘if they’re playing back, don’t be afraid to drop one down,' ” the Chicago White Sox designated hitter said.

The Sox trailed the Blue Jays by one run but had a runner on third in Miguel Vargas with two outs.

Hill listened to the advice and placed a bunt just in front of the plate. Catcher Tyler Heineman, who entered after Alejandro Kirk got injured on a foul ball during the previous at-bat, quickly gathered the ball but threw wildly to first. Vargas scored and Hill made it to second on the error.

“(I) just went out there and executed his plan and it all worked out,” Hill said.

Right fielder Tristan Peters followed with a walk-off single to right field as the Sox defeated the Blue Jays, 5-4, in front of 33,171 at Rate Field.

“That bunt was incredible,” Peters said. “Just to keep us in the game like that. And then I’m just thinking, I know Derek is very fast, so a single scores him. I’m just trying to make contact and get it on the grass in the outfield somewhere.

“It was super exciting. It was such an honor to be able to win it on opening night here at home.”

After a sluggish 1-5 season-opening trip and being forced to wait a day for their home debut after Thursday’s postponement, the Sox used small ball to top last year’s American League champions.

“We’ve got to find any way we can, especially in the AL Central in April,” Venable said. “We know there’s going to be wind, weather. Slug is maybe not part of our offensive package, and we’ve got to find any way we can.”

That included a double steal by Vargas and Colson Montgomery in the third inning. Austin Hays followed with a two-run single against Blue Jays starter Dylan Cease to give the Sox a 3-1 lead.

Sean Burke helped the Sox maintain that lead throughout much of the afternoon, allowing one run on four hits with seven strikeouts and no walks over six innings. Burke followed Grant Taylor, who struck out one in his one inning as the opener.

“This year, just trying to stay on my plan and continue to attack hitters and not let a couple hits rattle me,” Burke said. “Just trying to continue to flood the zone and make good pitches every single time out.”

The Blue Jays tied the score on a two-run home run from Andrés Giménez against reliever Jordan Leasure in the eighth inning.

The Blue Jays took the lead in the 10th when Davis Schneider scored as first baseman Munetaka Murakami was ruled to be slightly off the bag while catching Vargas’ throw from third on a George Springer grounder.

Vargas served as the automatic runner at second base to begin the bottom of the 10th. He advanced to third on a Montgomery grounder and remained there when Hays struck out.

Hill came up with the discussion he had with Venable in mind.

“It’s just a different way to attack and put pressure on the defense,” Venable said of bunting. “Got to find different ways to do it on different days. We’re not always going to slug.

“We know we have guys that control the zone well. We do have some guys that can drive the ball. But to be able to have Derek, Tristan, even some of our big boys lay down bunts, it just gives your offense another dynamic.”

Hill executed the bunt on a first-pitch slider from Jeff Hoffman.

“That’s just the way we kind of have to play the game,” Hill said. “We’re not like a huge slugging team like the Dodgers where you have four guys that can hit 30. So we’ve got to play that small ball, we’ve got to play clean and that’s what we did tonight.”

Peters then lined a 1-0 splitter to right field for the single, bringing in Hill to start the homestand off on a positive note.

“It meant so much,” Peters said of winning in front of the home crowd. “That was so cool to have all the fans rallying behind us and sticking through it with us too. Up-and-down game, but very exciting.”

©2026 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.