Imanaga rocked, Cubs routed as White Sox keep rolling |
Dustin Riese
· · 10 hours ago
CHICAGO - Who would've thought that, post all-star break, the Chicago White Sox (38-66) would not only be the hottest team in the American League, but would also have the best offense in baseball. Just one week past the All-Star Game, the White Sox's offense has been rolling as they came into this weekend's series with the Chicago Cubs (60-43), averaging more than seven runs per game.
Records aside, this isn't going to be an easy series for the Cubs, and they found out first hand how well the White Sox are playing as they opened up a massive 11-0 on Friday before cruising to a 12-5 win at Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday. Taking the loss was the left-hander Shota Imanaga, who was not only hit hard but saw a dip in velocity that has some fans concerned. Imanaga lasted only three innings, allowing seven runs (three home runs) and surrendering 12 hits, as he tends to have one or two games like this per season. No one expected one of those games would come against the White Sox, but it is what it is at this point. As was the case when the Cubs lost to the Royals on Wednesday, Adrian Houser was on the bump for the White Sox as he continues to be a topic of conversation for the Cubs when it comes to a deadline acquisition. If this was his final audition for a team, Houser delivered as he allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings to improve to 6-2 on the season, while his ERA sits at 2.10. This was one of those games that was over almost as quickly as it started, as the White Sox jumped all over Imanaga in the first and never looked back. After the Cubs went down quietly in the top of the first, Chase Meidroth wasted no time getting the scoring started as he led off the White Sox first inning with a homer to put the Sox on top for good 1-0. That was only the start for the Sox as a trio of singles loaded the bases before Lenyn Sosa kept the line moving with a fourth single that put Chicago on top 3-0. With the Cubs continuing to struggle in the second, it was the White Sox who started the second just like their first inning with Colson Montgomery going deep to begin the second and pushing the Sox lead to 4-0. Singles from Meidroth and Edgar Quero later in the inning had runners on the corners only to have Andrew Benintendi come through with another single, extending the Sox lead to 5-0 through two. Still trailing by five in the fourth, it started to look like the Cubs were putting something together as Kyle Tucker led the inning off with a single before advancing to second on a Seiya Suzuki walk. Two batters later, and the inning was over as Houser got Ian Happ to ground into an inning-ending double play to keep the Cubs off the board. As if giving up 12 hits wasn't bad enough, try allowing three leadoff homers as Austin Slater opened the fourth with the White Sox third leadoff homer of the game to open up a 6-0 lead. That was followed by another Quero double, which was the end of the line for Imanaga as he was lifted in favor of Chris Flexen. Hoping to limit the damage, things didn't go well for the former Sox starter as he gave up a single to Miguel Vargas to put runners on the corners before a Sosa sacrifice fly made this a 7-0 game. One batter later, and it was another former Cub getting in on the fun as Mike Tauchman touched up Flexen for the Sox fourth homer of the night to push the lead to 9-0. They would go on to single the Cubs to death in the fifth, as Quero and Vargas tacked on a pair of RBI knocks to open up an 11-0 lead through five. Still scoreless entering the seventh, you could see Houser starting to labor a bit, and with Pete Crow-Armstrong and Happ starting things off with a pair of walks, the Cubs had the first two runners on and no one out. Three batters later, both those runners were still on base only to have Reese McGuire come through with his sixth homer of the season to put an end to the shutout, 11-3. McGuire was the offense for the Cubs in this one, adding a ninth-inning single to his homer as the Cubs were down 12-4 late. Vidal Brujan kept the line moving with his third hit of the night to load the bases, only to have Tucker pick up a bases-loaded walk to make this a 12-5 game. That was it for either offense as Steven Wilson struck out Jon Berti to end the game, lifting the White Sox to another win, 12-5. McGuire and Brujan led the way for the Cubs, as they were responsible for six of the Cubs' nine hits, with McGuire driving in four.
