Chicago @ Chicago preview
Wrigley Field
Last Meeting ( Jun 4, 2024 ) Chi. White Sox 6, Chi. Cubs 7
The Chicago White Sox squandered a five-run lead Tuesday night en route to sustaining their 12th straight loss in the opener of their two-game Crosstown Classic series with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Now the White Sox, losers of 16 of their last 17 games, will try to avoid tying the second-longest losing streak in team history in Wednesday night's series finale.
The White Sox lost 13 games in a row in 1924. The team's 15-game slide in 1967-68 serves as the franchise's longest skid.
Right-hander Erick Fedde (4-1, 3.12 ERA) will start Wednesday for the White Sox, who haven't won since May 21, when they blanked the Toronto Blue Jays 5-0. Fedde is 0-0 with a 5.56 ERA in two career starts against the Cubs.
It will be Fedde's second career start at Wrigley Field. His first came during his rookie year in 2017 when he received a no-decision in a 9-4 victory by his Washington Nationals. The 2014 first-round pick out of UNLV allowed four runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings in that contest while walking four and striking out seven.
Right-hander Jameson Taillon (3-2, 2.84 ERA) will start for the Cubs, who will try to win a series for the first time since May 10-12, when they captured two of three games at Pittsburgh.
The White Sox looked as if they were going to snap their losing streak in Tuesday's series opener, jumping to a 5-0 lead in the fourth inning. Korey Lee had a two-run double, and Lenyn Sosa added a two-run homer to highlight the frame.
But a 42-minute rain delay in the top of the fifth gave the Cubs a chance to regroup. Dansby Swanson cut the deficit to 5-1 with an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth, and Christopher Morel and pinch-hitter Patrick Wisdom tied it an inning later after each launched a two-run homer.
Luis Robert Jr., activated earlier in the day from the injured list, put the White Sox back in front 6-5 with a mammoth 448-foot home run to left-center in the seventh. Ian Happ, however, capped a 3-for-4 night with his second double, a line drive into the corner in right, to drive in Cody Bellinger and Morel for the game-winning hit in the eighth.
"The energy here is always fantastic, and (with) the White Sox here in town, a lot of fun," Happ said. "That was a great game."
The Cubs improved to 4-1 in their last five meetings against their South Side rivals. The five-run comeback was the largest of the season for the Cubs, who also rallied from five runs down in a 10-7 win over the White Sox last July 26.
"It was a good ballgame with a lot of back and forth," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. "We had some big hits, and we needed some big hits. It was a fun night really. To score late-inning runs like that makes for a fun game."
White Sox manager Pedro Grifol obviously had a different perspective afterward.
"This one obviously got away from us," he said. "Our guys really battled out there. Great environment. We've got to close these things out. We really do."
--Field Level Media