Game Recap: Shaw, Horton impress as Cubs win over rival White Sox |
Dustin Riese
· · 14 hours ago
CHICAGO - If Friday night wasn't the wake-up call, the Chicago Cubs (61-43), perhaps being shut out through six innings at Guaranteed Rate Field on Saturday would be. Looking to bounce back against the Chicago White Sox (38-67), who jumped all over the Cubs on Friday, the Cubs found themselves deadlocked at zero entering the seventh inning.
Sometimes it's better late than never, and backed by a pair of seventh-inning homers, it was the Cubs' offense that came to life late to top the White Sox 6-1. While a win is a win, which is all you can ask for, there are some concerns as Aaron Civale looked like a Cy Young winner against this team. Statistically speaking, Civale has been one of the worst pitchers in the game all season, but you would've never guessed that based on his performance today. Civale had the Cubs guessing from start to finish as he struck out six across five innings of three-hit baseball. Fortunately for the Cubs, Cade Horton was a little better as the rookie right-hander delivered one of his best outings of the season. Horton not only matched Civale pitch for pitch but also managed to get through 6 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out three and allowing four hits. There weren't too many scoring chances for the White Sox in this one, but you could make the claim that the first inning was their best chance as a one-out walk to Chase Meidroth was followed by an Andrew Benintendi single as the Sox had two runners on with one out. They were unable to do anything with that as Horton induced an inning-ending double play to keep things scoreless. The same can be said about the Cubs as Civale was carving them up through four innings, giving up minimal traffic in the process. It wasn't until the fifth inning that the Cubs finally had something going, as a pair of singles from Carson Kelly and Ian Happ to lead things off gave the Cubs a pair of runners with no outs. Civale managed to wiggle out of trouble as he retired the next three hitters he faced to close out his outing with things still tied 0-0. Things would remain that way through the sixth, as this was going to come down to the bullpens, which ironically had been a strength for both teams for a good chunk of the season. On this day, it was the White Sox pen that took the first punch as Jordan Leasure took over in the seventh and promptly allowed a one-out blast to Happ that put the Cubs on top for good, 1-0. That was only the beginning for the Cubs' offense as a two-out single from Nico Hoerner kept the inning alive, only to have Matt Shaw, yes, the suddenly hot Matt Shaw, connect for another homer to push the Cubs' lead to 3-0. Had they not scored the rest of the way, it would've been enough, as his homer goes down as the game-winning hit. The Cubs continued to keep the pressure on in the eighth, and this time it came against Tyler Gilbert, who took over for Leasure in the bottom of the seventh. Gilbert came close to tossing a scoreless inning, only to have Pete Crow-Armstrong deliver a clutch double to keep the inning alive. A Kelly by pitch and a Happ walk followed that double, as the Cubs' offense was threatening again and had the bases loaded with two down. Dansby Swanson kept the line moving as his RBI single brought home a pair to push the Cubs' lead to 5-0. Shaw would add a bases-loaded walk later in the inning to extend the lead to 6-0 as the Cubs' offense put together back-to-back three-run frames late. With Caleb Thielbar and Brad Keller tossing a pair of scoreless innings, Ryan Pressly took over in the ninth, hoping to get back on track after a few rough outings. Early on, things didn't look great for Pressly as he allowed a lead-off homer to Mike Tauchman to put an end to the shutout with Meidroth tacking on a single immediately after. That was it for the Sox as Pressly bounced back to finish the game, including inducing a game-ending double play to even the series 6-1. Winners of four of the first five games against the Sox, the Cubs have officially clinched the 2025 Crosstown Cup and have now done that in back-to-back seasons. The Cubs are also back into a first-place tie with the Brewers, who have now lost back-to-back games to the Miami Marlins. Every hitter in the Cubs lineup had at least one hit, with Happ leading the way with two.
