Cubs blend power, speed, defense in 7-3 win over White Sox
The Cubs and White Sox stayed in their lanes Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.
That was good news for the visitors from the North Side. For the Sox, not so much.
Picking up where they left off after sweeping the Cardinals at Wrigley Field over the weekend, the Cubs combined an impressive blend of power, speed and defense to beat the White Sox 7-3.
The Sox did have their first sellout of the season with a crowd of 37,079.
While running their winning streak to four, the Cubs hit 4 home runs - Dansby Swanson had a pair - stole 5 bases and were bolstered by a highlight-reel catch from right fielder Seiya Suzuki, who robbed Yoan Moncada of a grand slam in the seventh inning.
"Loved the way the offense came with Dansby, great game," Cubs manager David Ross said. "Guys up and down the lineup were swinging the bat really well. Seiya's play there, a phenomenal catch. All-around good team win."
The White Sox lost their fourth straight game.
Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks was flirting with a no-hitter until Eloy Jimenez led off the fifth inning with a double.
The right-hander got the win after pitching 6⅓ innings and allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and a walk to go with 4 strikeouts.
Sox starter Michael Kopech struck out Mike Tauchman on three pitches to open the game, but he was tagged for 5 runs (4 earned) on 9 hits (3 homers) and walk in 5 innings.
"I don't think it's any secret that I throw a lot of fastballs," Kopech said. "When guys are able to get on top of it or clip it just enough, it's going to go. Got to do better at getting ahead and mixing better. It's one of those that's tough to swallow that I've given up a lot of them (home runs).
"When the team's out there battling, other starters going well and going deep, got to keep runs off the board and I'm not doing a good job of that."
After shortstop Tim Anderson made a wild throw to first on a Suzuki grounder in the second inning, Swanson hit a 2-run homer and Christopher Morel followed with a solo shot.
Swanson hit a solo home run off Kopech in the fourth inning, and Cody Bellinger made it a 5-0 game with a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
The White Sox finally made a push in the seventh inning. Trailing 7-1, Moncada's potential grand slam would have made it a 7-5 game if not for Suzuki's heroics.
In his first game with the Sox since June 13, Moncada had to settle for a sacrifice fly as Suzuki's snag over the wall halted the momentum.
"I felt I could make that play so I just went at it," Suzuki said through a translator. "That's my first time robbing a home run so personally, I'm just really happy. We were able to get out of that inning with just giving up 1 run, which was really huge for us."