Tim Anderson fielded Seiya Suzuki's grounder to start the second inning and made a throw off his back foot. Andrew Vaughn couldn't glove it as it bounced towards first base, allowing Suzuki to reach on Anderson's throwing error. Nine pitches later, Dansby Swanson and Christopher Morel hit back-to-back home runs. That offensive spark got the Chicago Cubs off and running, and they never looked back, winning 7-3.
Swanson had a big night early. After his two-run homer in the second inning, Swansby hit his second homer of the night in the fourth inning, a solo shot, and the Cubs were up 4-0. It would be a 5-0 game in the fifth inning before the White Sox even got a hit.
Typically, Kyle Hendriks against the White Sox is a bad matchup for The Professor. In 11 career starts against the White Sox, Hendriks entered the night 1-6 with a 4.83 ERA with his lone win back in 2018. With this being 2023, the White Sox hitters had a tough time making quality contact against Hendriks.
That was until Eloy Jimenez doubled down the left-field line in the fifth inning. But instead of starting a rally, all Yoan Moncada and Vaughn could muster were weak ground balls to the right side of the infield. It was enough to score Jimenez, but the White Sox were down by four runs halfway through the game.
It became a 7-1 game in the seventh inning when Nico Hoerner hit a solo home run, and Swanson added another RBI to his tally with a run-scoring single. It had the makings of becoming a laugher for a Crosstown rivalry game.
Then the White Sox offense showed life. Anderson singled to lead things off, and Luis Robert Jr. hit a ground-rule down to left field. With runners in scoring position, Jimenez had a good plate appearance, laying off low sinkers from Hendriks and drawing the White Sox's first walk of the night. Now the bases were loaded for Moncada, making his return from the Injured List.
On a low sinker, Moncada golfed a fly ball to right field that kept carrying. Suzuki stayed with the play and made a terrific catch reaching over the wall to rob Moncada of a grand slam. Instead of an emphatic spark, Moncada had to settle for a sacrifice fly.
Next, Vaughn pulled out his sand wedge and chipped an infield single perfectly placed between the pitcher's mound and first base. Robert scored, and the White Sox were down by four runs again.
After a quiet eighth inning, the White Sox offense needed a big rally in the ninth. Robert Jr. did an excellent job of laying off Michael Fulmer’s low sweepers and high fastballs to draw the walk. Jimenez would follow with a single to center field off a 0-2 sweeper that caught the middle of the strike zone.
Cubs manager David Ross swapped out Fulmer for Adbert Alzolay. Using his exceptional slider, Alzolay struck out Moncada, froze Vaughn and Grandal on 96-mph sinkers to strike out the side.
The Cubs provided all of the fireworks for a rivalry game on the south side.
Game Notes:
- Not only did the Chicago Cubs have four home runs as a team, but they also stole five bases.
- Jake Burger made his first career start at second base. He’s not really a second baseman, but was involved in nice 6-4-3 double play where Burger made a nice turn.
- Michael Kopech struggled as he threw 102 pitches finishing with a final line: 5 IP 9 H 5 R 4 ER 1 BB 5 K 3 HR allowed
- Tonight’s attendance was the White Sox first sellout of 2023.
