Cubs Crosstown Lineup: Which Gausman Shows Up? Happ Slides Down, More

The Crosstown Classic is living up to all of the hype.

The first series at Rate Field earlier this season had plenty of fireworks, but not as many as last night. It was a back-and-forth game that ended with a clutch comeback by the Cubbies in the ninth and tenth innings. Can they make it easier on themselves tonight?

Game Info

Who: Chicago White Sox (65-59) at Chicago Cubs (73-51)
Where: Wrigley Field
When: 7:05 PM CT
Watch: Marquee Sports Network
Listen: 104.3 The Score, TUDN, WPPN 106.7 / TUDN

Chicago Cubs Lineup

Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF
Seiya Suzuki, DH
Alex Bregman, 3B
Michael Busch, 1B
Nico Hoerner, SS
Pedro Ramírez, 2B
Ian Happ, LF
Miguel Amaya, C
Michael Conforto, RF

Pete Crow-Armstrong is coming off a game for the history books ... seriously. Can he follow that up in style and officially shake off some of the rust that built up over the last week? He was hitting just .111 in his eight games before Monday night.

Ian Happ is also starting this one despite a lefty being on the mound to open the game for the White Sox. With him being in the seven-hole, however, it's likely he doesn't even face Bryan Hudson and gets righty Erick Fedde instead.

Lastly, Miguel Amaya is for Carson Kelly at catcher and will bat eighth ahead of Michael Conforto. We've typically seen Amaya last in the order, but he's hitting a very solid .313 in his last seven games.

White Sox Lineup

Sam Antonacci, LF
Munetaka Murakami, 1B
Miguel Vargas, 3B
Andrew Benintendi, DH
Braden Montgomery, RF
Colson Montgomery, SS
Chase Meidroth, 2B
Tristan Peters, CF
Drew Romo, C

With a righty on the mound for the Cubs, the White Sox will have a pretty different look for this second matchup at Wrigley. Sam Antonacci will move back into the lead-off spot, while Andrew Benintendi will start at DH. The latter pinch-hit on Monday after blasting a massive go-ahead homer.

Colson Montgomery is also back after an off day. The shortstop has really struggled over the last month, going just .195 in his last 30 games with a mere 3 homers. If the White Sox want to even up this series, a Montgomery breakout may be what it takes.

On the Mound ...

Aug 13, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Kevin Gausman (12) throws to the Washington Nationals during the second inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Cubs – Kevin Gausman, RHP

Which version of Kevin Gausman will show up tonight? In his Cubs debut following the trade deadline, he looked like his vintage self. The veteran went 7.0 innings deep against the Royals and held them to just 2 earned runs on four hits. His second outing wasn't nearly as flawless. Gausman allowed the Nationals to put up 6 earned runs over just 4.2 innings of work, though he did manage to strike out seven.

Gausman can give opponents some balls to hit for power, which is undoubtedly a concern against this White Sox team. At the same time, there is no denying he knows how to force swings and misses, and this White Sox team has the fifth-most Ks in baseball.

White Sox – Bryan Hudson, LHP

The White Sox are going with a bullpen game. Bryan Hudson is set to make only his seventh start of the season and his first since July 11. It wouldn't be surprising to see Erick Fedde step in to then eat multiple innings. However, the White Sox also don't currently have a starter set for the series finale, so might they look to save him for that?

If that is the plan, Jose Urquidy could be the one who comes in for the bulk work this afternoon. If one thing is for sure, the Cubs have to be feeling decent about how these cards landed. They now must take advantage.

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