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Third straight walk-off win for Chicago White Sox

The National League Central-leading Chicago Cubs rallied from a 4-run deficit for the second straight day, but it wasn't enough Monday night at U.S. Cellular Field to defeat the inspired Chicago White Sox, who won their third straight game in walk-off fashion 5-4.

Having blown a lead in the top of the ninth for the second game in a row, the Sox again found a way to win, this time against recently acquired Cubs reliever Mike Montgomery.

J.B. Shuck led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to center, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by catcher Dioner Navarro and scored standing up when Tyler Saladino singled to center fielder Matt Szczur, who couldn't make a throw to the plate after bobbling the ball in the outfield.

"Just trying to get a job done, really," Saladino said. "That's pretty much what everything is, but it was a lot of fun, a lot of energy there and it felt really good to get that done for the guys."

As for the White Sox winning three straight in their final at-bat?

"You're looking for key wins when it doesn't look very promising, and these guys find a way to continue to fight," manager Robin Ventura said. "I'm proud of them. I think these last few days have been tough ones and we're still fighting and winning games."

With Sox closer David Robertson unavailable to pitch after making 3 appearances in two days against Detroit, Ventura allowed reliever Matt Albers to open the ninth inning after he struck out Miguel Montero to end the eighth with the tying run at second base.

Albers was greeted by a leadoff double from Javier Baez and singles by Dexter Fowler and Kris Bryant before exiting with a 4-3 lead in favor of Dan Jennings, who was touched for a one-out, opposite-field single to left by Anthony Rizzo, tying the game at 4-4.

However, the Cubs couldn't take the lead after trailing by 4 runs as they did Sunday in a 6-5 victory at Milwaukee as Jennings struck out Jason Heyward with the go-ahead run at second.

"My take-away is about how we came back again with a chance to win that game," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "If you're a Cub fan, you have to like the way the players fight down to the last drop. I loved it, thought it was great."

The White Sox took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Saladino doubled against Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta and Adam Eaton followed with a run-scoring single.

That's how it stayed until the sixth, when Todd Frazier drilled an Arrieta curveball over the center-field fence for a 3-run homer and a 4-0 Sox lead. Though he struck out six without a walk, Arrieta allowed 4 earned runs on 5 hits in 6 innings in a no-decision.

He was outdueled by Sox right-hander Miguel Gonzalez. The 32-year-old held the Cubs to 2 earned runs on 7 hits and 2 walks in a 104-pitch performance over 6⅔ innings.

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