After a couple of slugfests in the first two games of the series, Sunday’s showdown between the Chicago Cubs and White Sox turned into a pitcher’s duel, with Yu Darvish prevailing in a 2-1 triumph over Dylan Cease.
Darvish threw seven innings of solid baseball, striking out 10 batters and giving up just one earned run and scattering six hits. He picked up the victory, his fifth of the young season, to allow the Cubs to salvage one game out of the three-game set.
Cease, pitching against the team that traded him to the White Sox in 2017, was solid in his outing, with six innings of work and five strikeouts to his credit. He did give up two earned runs and was the tough-luck loser in the contest.
Craig Kimbrel and Jeremy Jeffress combined for two innings of shutout relief, although the pitchers walked a combined four hitters in those innings.
The White Sox got on the board early, as Jose Abreu smacked a home run deep to left-center field in the second inning. The home run was the sixth of the series for Abreu, and he also tied a big league record by homering in four consecutive at-bats during the course of the series.
The score stayed in play until the sixth inning when the Cubs finally managed to get a big hit of their own. With Javier Baez on base, Kyle Schwarber smacked a two-run shot over the center field barrier, giving the Cubs a 2-1 lead that they would never relinquish.
The White Sox had a few chances late in the game to tie things up or to take the lead, but the Cubs managed to hold on. After giving up an infield single and a pair of walks, Jeremy Jeffress managed to get Yoan Moncada to ground out to Baez, giving the Cubs the victory.
Chicago Baseball
After a day off Monday, the White Sox will welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates to Guaranteed Rate Field on Tuesday, while the Cubs will start a series on Monday against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
