Quero’s magic sends White Sox to walk-off victory, series win over Cubs

To say something unusual is happening on the South Side might be an understatement.

After maybe the most dramatic city series game ever played, injured White Sox pitcher Mike Vasil described some of the magic he's brought to the table.

By now, most everyone's seen Vasil with his magic wand, putting spells on teammates and firing up Munetaka Murakami, in particular. After the Sox beat the Cubs on a 2-run, walk-off homer by Edgar Quero in the 10th inning on Sunday, he came back to the locker room and donned a complete Harry Potter costume, then with a wave of the wand, declared Quero the player of the game.

The enchanted stick is technically a Harry Potter souvenir wand, a gift from pitcher Jordan Leasure. The costume was added more recently.

“Glasses, scarf, I have it all now,” Vasil said.

The magic has no bounds, apparently. Player of the game could easily have gone to outfielder Tristan Peters, who belted a 3-run homer into the wind in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Sox a 7-4 lead.

The Cubs weren't leaving Hogwarts without a fight, however. Michael Conforto sent a dramatic, 3-run homer to center field with one out in the top of the ninth against Sox closer Seranthony Dominguez to tie the score 7-7.

After the Cubs got 1 run in the top of the 10th, Quero sent the first pitch he saw from Ryan Rolison over the fence with one out in the bottom half, giving the Sox a spellbinding 9-8 victory, and clinching the weekend series.

Colson Montgomery, do you believe in magic?

“I think what we have going on here is real,” the Sox shortstop said. “The whole, 'Fake it till you make it' — it can be true and it can be contagious. Once you start winning and stuff, it's just like, 'All right, this is real. It's not fake.'”

Quero was an unlikely hero, mostly because he was hitting .151 at the start of the day and may be headed back to the minors when Kyle Teel is healthy and ready to return. But Quero had 3 hits and 3 RBI on Sunday.

“I don't have any pressure,” Quero said. “I hit last year, so it's part of the game. I focus on work every day. I had 3 hits today, I know I've got to go out tomorrow and hit.”

Peters is just as unlikely a story. He's a native of Winkler, Manitoba in Canada, located between Winnipeg and the North Dakota border. He was drafted after spending a year at Southern Illinois, made his big-league debut with Tampa Bay last year, but went 0-for-12 at the plate, then was sold to the White Sox in December.

“It plays with you,” he said. “You play GM and try to put yourself in situations, but at the end of the day, you have no control over it. Realizing it, just kind of surrendering control, that helps a lot. Obviously, I'm thinking of those 12 at-bats throughout that whole off-season. I'm glad I could get more here.”

On the other side, Conforto was in low demand this offseason, following a disappointing year with the Dodgers. The Cubs gave him a chance and this was his third game-saving, late-inning clutch hit, even though this one didn't end in a victory.

“I didn't want to chase Dominguez around, I wanted to make sure I was swinging at strikes,” Conforto said. “I got in an advantage count where I could open it up a little bit and take some chances. I just put a really good swing on it.”

The bullpen is starting to be a concern for the Cubs, especially Phil Maton, who gave up the home run to Peters and raised his season ERA to 9.49.

“We're counting on Phil and we're going to need to pitch him in big spots,” manager Craig Counsell said. “So we need to put our heads together and help him get more confidence and more execution.”

The Cubs (29-18) wrapped up a 3-6 road trip, but on Monday their 15-game home win streak will be back in play when they host division rival Milwaukee.

“It was a great baseball game,” Counsell said. “You have to say that when you're on the losing end too.”

If Quero could wave a magic wand and grant one wish for the White Sox, it would be more crowds like this weekend at Rate Field. All three games were sold out, with announced attendance of at least 38,000.

“I recommend to fans, support us and support the players, because we're going out every day to try to win the ballgame,” Quero said.

Who knows? This performance by the White Sox might lead to seven or eight sequels.