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Chicago Cubs go from no hits to big blasts in win

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Anthony Ranaudo was enjoying a special night Wednesday at Wrigley Field until some mighty swings by second-year sluggers vaulted the Chicago Cubs to an 8-1 Crosstown Series victory.

Making his Sox debut, the 6-foot-7, 240-pound right-hander spent the first 5-plus innings rewriting the team manual on how to excel on your first day.

Recalled Sunday from Class-AAA Charlotte, the 26-year-old New Jersey native not only held the Cubs hitless for the first 5⅓ innings, he provided his team's only offense when he roped a solo home run to the right-field bleachers off Cubs starting pitcher Jason Hammel in the top of the fifth. It was Ranaudo's first major-league hit.

Then the Cubs' offense awoke in a big way.

His team trailed 1-0 with one out in the sixth when Kris Bryant, who had 5 hits in his previous 23 at-bats, brought the frustrated Wrigley faithful to their feet by launching a typical Bryant home run, a towering shot to the bleachers in left-center.

It was the first hit of the game for the Cubs, and it was Bryant's first home run since July 16. His 26th home run of the season matched the total of his 2015 rookie-of-the-year campaign.

Javier Baez put the Cubs ahead to stay an inning later when he laced a 3-2 curveball from Ranaudo into the left-field bleachers, prompting a curtain call from most of the 41,166 in attendance.

"I'm just living the dream, to hit a go-ahead homer," Baez said, smiling. "It was one of my dreams today in the game, and there it is."

Before Bryant's home run, Ranaudo had retired 14 of 15, interrupted only by a fourth-inning walk to Miguel Montero.

"Definitely something I'll remember the rest of my life," Ranaudo said of the experience. "The way the game kind of turned, that kind of took a bad turn for us. Definitely a great experience. The atmosphere was electric and I thought we played really well for most of the game."

Ben Zobrist gave the Cubs a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth when the cleanup hitter doubled to center, scoring Bryant.

Addison Russell delivered the knockout blow one batter later, a no-doubt-about-it grand slam that staked the Cubs to an 8-1 lead. It was Russell's first career slam.

"It's kind of surreal just rounding the bases, the pandemonium of the fans," said Russell, who also took a curtain call. "Stepping on home plate was awesome. To greet my teammates right there was pretty sweet."

Aroldis Chapman made his Cubs debut by pitching a scoreless ninth in a non-save situation. He struck out Jose Abreu on a 91-mph slider after throwing back-to-back 101-mph fastballs and finished the game by striking out Avisail Garcia on a fastball clocked at 103.

The Sox slipped to 50-51 overall as their four-game winning streak came to an end.

Meanwhile, the Cubs (60-40) snapped a two-game skid and became the first team in baseball to 60 wins.

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