Cubs 6, White Sox 1: Bullpen struggles loom large

The South Siders failed to score until the bottom of the ninth during Saturday’s loss

The White Sox (38-67) pitching staff faltered late in this game, so they were unable to win back-to-back games against the Cubs (61-43).

Right-handed pitcher Aaron Civale, 30, started on the mound for the South Siders, and he was in control early on. Civale retired the first 11 batters he faced, striking out six of them.

Meanwhile, rookie Cade Horton, 23, took the mound for the North Siders to begin the game. Horton, a right-handed starter, entered the game a 4.04 ERA and a 4.29 FIP. After issuing a walk to Chase Meidroth and a single to Andrew Benintendi with one out in the first, the White Sox had runners on the corners. Up to the plate stepped Miguel Vargas, who homered twice against Horton on May 16. This time, however, it was a different story, as Horton got Vargas to ground into an inning-ending double play.

In the second, the White Sox also threatened to score, with Kyle Teel slicing a single to center to open the frame. The next two batters, Lenyn Sosa and Colson Montgomery grounded out, but those grounders allowed Teel to advance 90 feet each. Michael A. Taylor stepped up to the plate with Teel on third and two outs. Taylor lined a sweeper sharply to left, but Ian Happ was there to make the catch.

In the fifth, the Cubs finally managed to get a scoring opportunity against Civale. Carson Kelly and Happ hit back-to-back singles to open the inning. Dansby Swanson grounded into a force out that resulted in the Cubs having runners at the corners with one out. From there, Nico Hoerner got underneath a cutter, and his fly out to right was not quite deep enough to drive in Kelly. Then, with two outs, Civale got Matt Shaw to ground out softly to escape the jam. Shaw entered this game hitting 10-for-20 with three homers since the All-Star break, so well done to Civale for retiring Shaw in a high-leverage moment. Civale finished the game with five shutout innings, he only allowed three hits, and he struck out six without issuing any walks.

Meanwhile, after those first two innings, scoring threats were difficult for the White Sox to find. Horton found his groove, and he finished with 6 ¹⁄₃ shutout innings, only allowing four hits.

Mostly thanks to the excellent performances by Civale and Horton, the game was scoreless entering the seventh inning. Unfortunately, the White Sox bullpen was not up to the task. After Tyler Alexander pitched a scoreless sixth, Jordan Leasure took over on the mound to begin the seventh. With one out, Ian Happ launched his 14th home run of the season to break the ice and give the Cubs a 1-0 lead. Then, with two outs, Hoerner extended the inning with a single, and Shaw blasted his sixth homer of the season to make the score 3-0. Shaw’s homer brought Leasure’s outing to a close, but the bullpen’s struggles did not end there.

Tyler Gilbert retired the first two Cubs to bat in the eighth, but the wheels fell off after that. Pete Crow-Armstrong lined a double, and with that, Dan Altavilla took over on the mound. Altavilla hit Kelly with a sinker, Happ walked to load the bases, and Dansby Swanson hit a soft liner to center for a two-run single. After two more walks, the score was 6-0, and Altavilla’s miserable outing was over.

The Cubs did not score again, but they did not need to. The White Sox only scored once, and that run did not come until the bottom of the ninth. Fremd Viking Mike Tauchman continued his nice run at the plate to lead off the frame, crushing a homer on a 3-2 curveball. This curveball was below the zone, and Tauchman could have taken it for ball four, but the home run was a much better outcome.

Still, it was far too little, far too late for the White Sox, who came up short on Saturday at Rate Field.

These two teams will face each other for the rubber match of this series on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. Central. The probable starter for the White Sox will be Sean Burke (4.19 ERA, 5.01 FIP, 0.4 fWAR in 101 innings), and as usual, CHSN and WMVP 1000 will cover the game.

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