White Sox lose a contested pitching duel, 2-1
What a series! Although the Chicago White Sox could not complete the sweep against the crosstown Cubs, this had playoff atmosphere written all over it, and today's game could have easily went the Sox's way.
Many positives to take away; let's see what all went down during this series-ending afternoon.
The early innings
In his first at-bat of the game, in the second inning, José Abreu sent a solo rocket to the left field bleachers! This put the Good Guys up, 1-0, and it made four consecutive ABs resulting in a home run for Pito.
The middle innings
Dylan Cease was cruising until the fourth inning. Sandwiched between an out, Anthony Rizzo singled, and Kyle Schwarber doubled. With ducks on the pond and one out, Willson Contreras produced a grounder to Yoán Moncada. Double clutching the ball, YoYo was able to make a throw to James McCann, though the throw was on the first-base side of home plate. However, James made do and placed the tag on Rizzo ... but Rizzo was called safe.
However, Ricky Renteria immediately challenged the play. After a long few minutes, the call was overturned! McCann placed the tag on Rizzo before his foot touched home; the Sox kept their 1-0 lead.
On the next pitch, Contreras decided to steal second. Not smart. James McCann fired a bullet to Tim Anderson, and the Sox escaped the inning with zero runs given up.
The fifth inning did not become any easier. Jason Heyward drew a leadoff walk. Cease proceeded to throw a double-play ground ball, but instead of clearing the bases and tallying two outs, Moncada was charged with two errors, and there were ducks on the pond with zero outs.
Unfortunately, Cease walked Nico Hoerner to load the bases. Dylan kept his composure to strike out Jason Kipnis. Ian Happ then rolled over a pitch to produce an inning-ending double play. Phew. Two jams, but Cease and the Sox escaped them brilliantly.
After two big innings for the South Siders, the North Siders were finally able to score a pair of runs in the sixth. Javier Báez notched a one-out double, and Schwarber homered himself and Javy home. The Cubs led 2-1, their first lead at any point during the weekend series.
The later innings
With two on and two outs in the eighth, Eloy Jiménez worked a 2-2 count. Wanting another big at-bat for the team who traded for him against the team who traded him away, Eloy sent a a ball in the air for a routine fly out to center.
Similar to the eighth, the White Sox had two runners on with two outs in the ninth. Tim Anderson loaded the bases with a walk. YoYo, with the bases loaded and two outs, had the game on his shoulders. He worked a 2-2 count, and he fouled a ball to the Cubs' dugout — David Bote ran into the railing and missed the game-ending out. Given one more strike, Moncada had a chance to break out of his slump and propel the late-inning offense, but grounded right into the shift on the right side of the infield to end the game.
Concluding thoughts
The White Sox made the Cubs sweat at the end of this game. Although they could not complete the sweep, the South Siders still took the first of two series against their Crosstown rivals.
Dylan Cease had himself a game, but he does take the loss. Both starters only gave up one home run, but Yu Darvish was able to keep it to a solo shot, while Cease's was a two-run one. Regardless, this was a great outing for Dylan. He kept his composure and pitched out of a few jams. He has what it takes to make it far in the bigs; and best of all, he is on the right side of town.
The Sox end their seven-game winning streak, but with an off-day tomorrow, they look to refresh, re-group, and re-focus for a two-game series against the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates.
Always remember
The South Side > The North Side