Crosstown Classic Round 1: Chicago White Sox @ Chicago Cubs

                                        

You know summer baseball is heating up in Chicago when the Cubs and White Sox are playing. Typically, these games feel like a playoff series. But with sporadic rain quelling the flames of passion from some of the fans, and the fact that both teams have been at the bottom of the league in May made this quick two game series feel more like an episode of The Twilight zone. Yet, besides allowing the Sox to jump out to a 5-run lead in game 1, and a 4-game lead in game two, the comeback Cubs hope to take this crosstown series sweep momentum with them into a 4-game set with the Reds. Now 31-31 on the season, the Cubs could erase the May woes with a big series against the Reds, and regain some of that momentum they had back in April before the injury bug hit the team. 

As for the White Sox, the good news is you’re at rock bottom, and it can’t get any worse than this. Although the season is a wash, they still will have a chance to play some of their fun prospects come August and September. But given that the White Sox were hoping to compete in the division, over 30 games under .500 is a tough pill to swallow. They’re now 15-47, and 26 games behind Cleveland for first place in the AL Central. It gets even worse, as the White Sox had a 2-game series sweep in hand, something that would have provided this depressed fanbase with a little boost of energy as they enter the process of prospect hunting going into the trade deadline. BHowever, their play in these two games would align with the way they’ve played all season, and the White Sox would completely collapse. Let’s take a look at each game and BreakDown what happened. 

Game 1: Chicago White (15-46) @ Chicago Cubs (30-31): Cubs win 7-6

The Cubs should have a rain delay in the middle of a game all the time. They might be better than .500 if that was the case. We’ll kick this game off in the top of the 4th inning, where the White Sox started to mount a little noise against Japanese Ace Shota Imanaga. Andrew Vaughn and Luis Robert Jr. would both single to put runners on first and second. Things would go bad to worse when journeyman infielder Paul Dejong would ground a ball to the accident waiting to happen Christopher Morel who would botch a potential double-play ball. This would allow Vaughn to score, and put runners on second and third. A batter later, Korey Lee would make the Cubs feel that error as he would smack a double to left giving the White Sox a 3-0 lead. Lee, the 25 year old catcher has been a productive bat in the White Sox lineup, batting .255 with 5 homers and 16 RBIs on the season. The inning wouldn’t end there. Typically the Cubs would celebrate the name Sosa, but that wouldn’t be the case when Lenyn Sosa would take Imanaga deep on a two-run homer. It was his first of the season. The White Sox would lead 5-0. Thank god for Martin Maldonado (who couldn’t hit a beach ball right now) for striking out to end the onslaught. Maldonado is batting .076 on the season. He’s 7-92 with 1 homer. 

A close up look to Christopher Morel gold glove effort at third base 

A lengthy rain delay would take effect, making me live the Morel error over and over again in my head. Tyson Miller would take over in the 5th inning and do a nice job of keeping the Sox from piling on. Chris Flexen would stay in the game, and in the 5th inning the Cubs would finally generate some offense. Ian Happ would hit a lead off double. A batter later, the slumping Dansby Swanson would double in Happ to make it 5-1. Flexn would get Pete Crow-Armstrong out, and Miguel Amaya to end the inning and his night. Flexen, who’s 2-5 with a 5.19 ERA, ended on a positive note, pitching 5 full innings and striking out 4 batters. Tyson Miller would shut the door on the Sox in the top of the 6th, keeping the Cubs in the game. Tyson continued his strong season with the Cubs, improving to a 2.14 ERA on the year. The bottom of the 6th was where White Sox fans could do nothing but watch the wheel fall off the bus for their team. Veteran right hander Justin Anderson would come out of the pen with a 7.56 ERA. It started out good for Anderson, who got Nico Hoerner to ground out, and then struck out Seiya Suzuki swinging. But he’d hit Cody Bellinger to extend the inning, and the next batter was Christopher Morel who’d hit his 11th home run of the season. The Cubs would begin to stir and have a little life only down 5-3. Not taking any chances, the Sox would call on Tanner Banks. Banks would allow a single to Happ on his first. With the crowd at Wrigley getting loud, Patrick Wisdom would take Banks deep to center for a two-run bomb, tying the game 5-5 and setting the crowd ablaze. 

But the White Sox would survive that inning, and prove to have more fight in them. Hayden Wesneski came out to pitch for the Cubs. Wesneski has been good for the Cubs this season when commanding that devastating sweeper pitch. But when he leaves it hanging, it has caused him some problems with the long ball. Well, he left one hanging to Luis Robert Jr. who crushed a solo home run to center to put the Sox back up 6-5. It would stay that way all the way until the bottom of the 8th inning. With Sox fans chirping, the Sox would lean on 25 year old Jordan Leasure who’s been solid this season (2 saves 3.12 ERA). Leasure would get Suzuki to fly out to start the inning. He’d walk Bellinger, and then Morel would reach on an infield single. With runners on first and second, and the crowd getting loud, Ian Happ would send a ball deep into right field for a double, scoring Bellinger and Morel, and giving the Cubs a 7-6 lead. The Cubs would lean on closer Hector Neris to shut down the White Sox for his 8th save of the season, and win the game 7-6, relieving the Cubs the embarrassment of losing to their cellar dweller crosstown rivals. Neris was fired up, and the Cubs would need that fire in game 2. 

Game 2: Chicago White Sox (15-47) @ Chicago Cubs (31-31): Cubs win 7-6 

Unfortunately for the White Sox, game 2 was identical to game 1. Cubs starting pitcher Jameson Taillon didn’t get off to an ideal start. On the first pitch of the game, White Sox right fielder Corey Julks would homer, giving the Sox an immediate 1-0 lead. He’d recover and get out of the inning. The White Sox leaned on veteran Erick Fedde who’s been very good this season since returning from playing in Korea. Fedde is 4-1 on the season and has 3.27 ERA. In the bottom of the second, Christopher Morel shot a single to center, and stole second base. Both Happ and Hoerner would ground out, but it would plate in Morel to tie the game at 1, where it would remain until the top of the 4th inning. The Sox would once again rally in the 4th. Gavin Sheets opened things with a single to right, followed by a single left by Andrew Vaughn. Oscar Colas drove in Sheets with a single to center to put the Sox up 2-1. In the 4th, Korey Lee and Lenyn Sosa were at it again. Like the top of the 4th the night before, Lee drove a run with a single to left, breaking it open 3-1. Lenyn Sosa would follow with a single to right, scoring Oscar Colas and moving Lee to second. Now 4-1, Naperville’s own Nicky Lopez would drop a single to right field, scoring Lee and giving the Sox a 5-1 lead. 

The Cubs would load the bases in the 6th inning with only one man out. Bellinger would ground into a fielder’s choice, scoring a run and making it 5-2. Fedde would strike out Morel to end the inning, but not before Michael Tauchman would score on a balk. The Cubs would cut the Sox lead in half to 5-3. In the bottom of the 7th things would pick up for the Cubs. Michael Soroka would take the mound for the White sox. He started the inning by hitting Dansby Swanson with a pitch. He’d follow that with a walk to Cubs catcher Yan Gomes. Soroka would be the second White Sox pitcher to balk in the game, advancing the runners to second and third. He’d walk Tauchman, but the 4th ball would get away from the catcher and score a run for the Cubs, bringing them closer to the Sox at 5-4. Soroka would strike out Suzuki who had a terrible series, and the Sox would pull him. Out would come Jared Shuster, the same disaster with a new name. The first thing he did was get Cody Bellinger to fly to center. This would tie the game at 5. Shuster would walk Morel with Tauchman on second.Morel would be pulled for Patrick Wisdom. Ian Happ would come up for the second straight night, and play the hero as he singled to center scoring Tauchman to give the Cubs a 6-5 lead. 

So the Cubs won 6-5 right? Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Hayden Wesneski would come out and to my amazement, allowed another home run. This time it was Paul Dejong out to left field for his 10th of the year. We’re tied at 6 and looking at extras. But before the fans could prepare themselves for a long night, the Fremd graduate and hometown kid Michael Tauchman would launch an opposite field home run to walk it off for the Cubs and win the game 7-6. 

The Final Word

The Cubs avoided disaster by managing to not suck as much as the White Sox, but still doing enough to make the Cubs not feel good about sweeping the Sox. The Cubs were a mess, and if they’re going to compete with Milwaukee this season, they need to clean a lot of shit up. It’s clear that Craig Counsell doesn’t believe in bunting. To the Cub fans' frustration, we’ve had to watch as a line up full of sub .250 hitters hit into double-plays. The bats need to pick it up, I love Michael Tauchman but you’re in trouble if he’s your best hitter. Ian Happ looks to be heating up. But Michael Busch needs to do what he did in April. Dansby, Seiya, and Morel need to do better than what they're doing now. Those 3 men are key components to the Cubs offense, and the occasional homer while hitting around .200 isn’t cutting it. Seiya hasn’t looked like himself all season long. The drop in Atlanta last season that was a huge player in the Cubs collapse out of postseason contention has become an unfortunate habit this season, he’s already got 3 ugly errors in right field. Even more concerning has been the ugly swings and his timing while up to bat. At the very least, Seiya was a good hitter trying to find his home run potential. But this season he’s been a home run or bust type of hitter. That’s not good when you have a roster full of those types of players. The late inning comebacks are fun, but you won’t always play the White Sox. Do that against Milwaukee and they’ll shut the door on you every time.