The Chicago White Sox jumped out to a 5-0 lead off Chicago Cubs ace Shota Imanaga but were unable to maintain the lead. After the Cubs came back to tie the game at 5-5, the South Siders took another lead on a Luis Robert Jr. solo home run, only for Ian Happ to give the Cubs their first lead of the night in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run double.
The White Sox got the 2024 Crosstown Cup started by plating five runs in the fourth inning after a Christopher Morel error. They were unable to get their first win after eleven losses, however, as Patrick Wisdom and the aforementioned Morel hit home runs to help fuel the Cubs’ comeback.
Chicago Cubs Ace Tripped Up
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The 2024 Crosstown Cup opened up Tuesday night between the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox on the north side at Wrigley Field. Shota Imanaga got his first taste of the series, looking to rebound from a setback in Milwaukee in his last start. Imanaga was clean through three innings but got himself into a jam in the fourth that was not helped by a costly error by Christopher Morel at third.
The error came with two on and nobody out. Paul DeJong slapped a ball down the line and Morel failed to come up with the two-hopper and the ball rolled into the camera well, pushing one run across and putting two runners in scoring position. Korey Lee drove in both runners with a double to make it 3-0 and Lee was brought in by Lenyn Sosa’s home run that made it a 5-0 White Sox lead. Only one of the runs in the inning was charged to Imanaga.
Despite only giving up one earned run, Shota Imanaga was taken out before completing five innings. Imanaga went 4 1/3, shelled out seven hits, and punched out six on 69 pitches. The Japanese southpaw left down 5-0.
Cubs Start to Mount a Comeback
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The Chicago Cubs didn’t find much luck off White Sox starter Chris Flexen. They were able to scratch across one run in the fifth on a pair of doubles but after five the White Sox still held a 5-1 lead. However, with Flexen out of the game, the Cubs found more success off the Sox bullpen, starting in the sixth.
After making the error that started the Chicago White Sox’s big inning, Christopher Morel put a dent in the Cubs’ deficit with a two-run home run off of Justin Anderson. The power-hitting third baseman jumped on a first-pitch slider and put a charge into the crowd that would only grow throughout the inning.
Two batters later, Anderson was removed in favor of a left-hander and Patrick Wisdom pinch-hit for Michael Busch to escape the lefty-lefty match-up with White Sox reliever Tanner Banks. After a lengthy battle, Wisdom went yard for a two-run home run as well, tying the game at five apiece.
Brand New Ball Game Late
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With the game tied the Chicago White Sox needed a spark on offense that they hadn’t had since the fourth. They found that spark in the form of Luis Robert Jr. at the top of the seventh. With two outs in the frame, the south side slugger demolished a Hayden Wesneski breaking ball into the center field bleachers to give the White Sox their second lead of the game.
Much like their first lead of the game, the 6-5 lead would not stand for Chicago, and in the bottom of the eighth, the Cubs staged a rally. After Cody Bellinger walked, Christopher Morel grounded a ball to short, and rather than stay on his feet, Paul DeJong opted to slide moving towards second base and when he flipped the ball to try and record the force out at second, Bellinger beat the throw and everyone was safe.
The next batter was Ian Happ. The switch hitter was batting from the left side against the right-hander Jordan Leasure and squared up a high-and-tight fastball, sending it over the head of Gavin Sheets in right, allowing Bellinger and Morel to come around to score and give the Cubs their first lead of the night.
Craig Counsell went to Hector Neris to try to save the game and like so many other opportunities so far this season, Neris made Counsell and the Wrigley faithful sweat it out. With one out he walked Oscar Colas to put the tying run on and after Colas was lifted for pinch-runner Duke Ellis who stole second base, that run was 180 feet away.
Ellis was getting an aggressive lead at second when Neris wheeled off the mound and fired the ball to the base for Nico Hoerner to tag out the speedy Ellis. After a review, it was clear that Ellis had been caught too far off the bag and the threat was nullified. The next hitter popped out to first and the Cubs emerged with the 7-6 victory.
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