Cubs knock off White Sox in mistake-filled affair
After losing 6-5 to the Chicago Cubs Friday at U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija was asked for his thoughts on his old team.
“They're playing good baseball right now,” Samardzija said. “They play every out and they don't make any mistakes.”
The Cubs were guilty of quite a few mistakes Saturday night, but the Sox made more.
As a result, the Cubs cruised to a 6-3 win before a capacity crowd of 39,579 at the Cell.
Early on, it was the Cubs committing some costly blunders.
The White Sox took a 1-0 lead in the second inning after cashing in on Cubs starter Jake Arrieta's error on a routine throw to first base.
The Cubs tied the game in the third on Dexter Fowler's RBI double, but an error by third baseman Kris Bryant put Sox runners on first and third with one out.
Arrieta struck out Carlos Sanchez and Tyler Flowers to escape trouble.
From there, the White Sox (54-60) started slopping it up and the Cubs (67-48) went on to win their ninth straight game.
In the fifth inning, Addison Russell doubled with two outs, and Sox manager Robin Ventura had starter Jose Quintana intentionally walk Fowler to get to hot-hitting rookie Kyle Schwarber.
The strategy backfired as Schwarber drilled a run-scoring single to right field. Avisail Garcia made a strong throw to the plate, but Flowers appeared to be out of position and slow to make the tag on Russell.
The Cubs upped their lead to 3-1 in the sixth inning when center fielder Adam Eaton appeared to lose a Anthony Rizzo flyball in the lights.
Rizzo was credited with a double, and he scored on Jorge Soler's single to left field. Melky Cabrera was charged with an error on a high throw home that allowed Soler to advance to second base, and Quintana gets a mental error for watching the throw rather than backing up home plate.
In the seventh inning, the Cubs increased their lead to 6-2 thanks to a throwing error by shortstop Alexei Ramirez.
Ventura was ejected in the seventh inning after arguing with home-plate umpire Joe West.
Jose Abreu drove in the White Sox' final run with a single in the bottom of the seventh.
Check back later for more details from both clubhouses.