A flared blooper falling just beyond the outstretched glove of diving Chicago Cubs second baseman Nick Madrigal was the break White Sox outfielder AJ Pollock needed.
Pollock entered Wednesday’s series finale at Wrigley Field hitting .184, but a well-placed ball and a little luck put the Sox ahead in the sixth inning. The Sox bullpen locked it down, holding the Cubs to three hits over the final seven innings in a 4-3 victory at Wrigley Field to win both City Series games on the North Side.
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Right-hander Kyle Hendricks needed one more out with runners on the corners in the sixth to keep the game tied. Pollock managed to inside-out enough of a sinker to get it over a shifted Madrigal, who sprinted from the left side of second base in an attempt to catch the ball.
Solo home runs by José Abreu in the first inning and Leury García in the third got the Sox on the board against Hendricks.
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Home runs provided the Cubs offense, which again didn’t produce much against Sox pitchers. Nico Hoerner’s two-run home run and Patrick Wisdom’s solo homer — both in the third inning — erased the Sox’s two-run lead.
Gavin Sheets singled to left field in the fourth to tie the game.
The Cubs managed just one hit between Wisdom’s two-out home run in the third and his lead-off single in the eighth. Madrigal’s soft single to right field represented the Cubs’ lone hit in that span, but he was thrown out at second trying to stretch the play for an extra-base hit.
Sox starter Lucas Giolito struck out 10 in 5⅔ innings, allowing three runs on three hits and walked two.
Hendricks had pitched well at Wrigley in three starts this year. Although he was generally efficient against the Sox, he couldn’t get out of the sixth before surrendering the go-ahead run.
The Cubs’ greatest threat to tie or take the lead fizzled in the eighth. They wasted back-to-back singles against reliever Aaron Bummer to put runners on the corners. Bummer forced pinch hitter Yan Gomes to line out before Matt Foster entered to retire Seiya Suzuki on a foul out and struck out Ian Happ looking to strand the runners.
