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Chicago White Sox select Noah Schultz, a left-handed pitcher from Oswego East, with the No. 26 pick in the MLB draft

MINNEAPOLIS — The Chicago White Sox selected left-handed pitcher Noah Schultz with the No. 26 pick in the Major League Baseball draft Sunday.The 6-foot-9 Schultz, from Oswego East High School, signed with Vanderbilt. He was ranked No. 49 in MLB.com’s list of the top 200 draft prospects.AdvertisementThis is the second straight year the Sox selected a high school player with their first-round pick. Last year, they drafted shortstop Colson Montgomery at No. 22.Sox director of amateur scouting Mike Shirley said during a video conference call Friday, “At the end of the day, the preference may be a pitcher, but that doesn’t mean if the right position player is available that we will not walk down that road.”AdvertisementThe Sox indeed went the pitching route.The Sox have the third-smallest bonus pool ($6,289,100) to be used on the top 10 rounds, according to MLB.com. The No. 26 pick is valued at $2,788,000.Schultz was the second Chicago-area high school pitcher to be picked in the first round. The Atlanta Braves drafted Riverside-Brookfield right-hander Owen Murphy at No. 20.

Sports

Dylan Cease allows 1 hit in 7 innings as the Chicago White Sox ‘make a statement’ by taking 3 of 4 vs. the Minnesota Twins

MINNEAPOLIS — Dylan Cease didn’t need any extra motivation this week.The Chicago White Sox starter has pitched well enough to be an All-Star. He wasn’t on the roster when the pitchers were announced last Sunday. And then he went back to work with two more stellar outings before the break.AdvertisementHe was in top form Sunday, allowing one hit while striking out eight and walking two in seven innings in an 11-0 victory against the Minnesota Twins in front of 23,225 at Target Field.“I want to win,” Cease said. “I don’t need any extra motivation. It’s definitely not hard to find these days.”AdvertisementCease and relievers Joe Kelly and José Ruiz combined on the one-hitter, helping the Sox take three of four in an important division series.“Dylan, he was the horse we rode,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “He was doing it efficiently and could have pitched longer, but we stopped in the seventh. What he’s done all year. He’s picked us up at important times. This was an important one.”Yoán Moncada (two-run) and Andrew Vaughn hit back-to-back homers in the seventh and Josh Harrison had a three-run homer later in the inning as the Sox (46-46) gained ground in the American League Central. They trail the first-place Twins (50-44) by three games and the Cleveland Guardians (46-44) by one. “We’re chasing them in the standings right now,” Cease said. “It was important to make a statement and show that we’re still here. I think it’s going to be a good second half.”Throughout most of the four days at Target Field, the Sox looked like the team many expected to see this season. They outscored the Twins 32-10 in the series. They had 16 hits Sunday and 50 in the four games.“I know the team understands what we accomplished the last 18 games (going 11-7 in 17 days),” La Russa said. “Everybody — you include fans — can decide for themselves if it’s impressive or whatever. But I know they know how hard they had to work to get that record and get back to .500.“They need the days off and we’ll be ready Friday.”Cease set the tone, keeping the Twins hitless until Alex Kirilloff singled to left with one out in the fifth. He followed up 5⅔ scoreless innings in the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader in Cleveland, which the Sox won 7-0.AdvertisementHe improved to 9-4 while lowering his ERA to 2.15. He’s third in the AL in ERA and leads the majors with 150 strikeouts. He has 501 career strikeouts, reaching 500 quicker (401⅔ innings) than any pitcher in Sox history, surpassing Chris Sale (472⅓), according to Elias.“He has been unbelievable for us,” Sox designated hitter José Abreu said through an interpreter. “Outstanding. All the emphasis and effort to get better with each outing. That has been beneficial to us.“I don’t know how he’s not in the All-Star Game. It’s crazy.”Shortstop Tim Anderson and closer Liam Hendriks will represent the team at the All-Star Game on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Sox took the lead Sunday with a two-out rally in the fifth with Anderson playing a big role.Seby Zavala walked and Adam Engel singled to left. Both advanced a base when left fielder Nick Gordon didn’t field Engel’s hit cleanly, giving the Sox runners on second and third.Anderson drove them in with a single to right on a 1-2 pitch from Chris Archer. Moncada doubled and Vaughn followed with a two-run double against reliever Tyler Duffey, making it 4-0.AdvertisementThe Sox broke the game open with six runs in the seventh. Moncada’s two-run homer to center against Joe Smith went 437 feet. Vaughn followed with a homer to left.Harrison made it 10-0 with the three-run homer later in the inning.“If you can produce one through nine, which we can, it’s unstoppable,” said Vaughn, who was 3-for-4 with three RBIs on Sunday and 9-for-17 with nine RBIs in the series. “It’s a special feat and we have to keep going.”The Sox head into the All-Star break having won five of their last six games. They return Friday with four games in three days against the Guardians at Guaranteed Rate Field.“We have to value the effort everyone has made to win games,” Abreu said. “As the stats say, we’re improving and that’s good. Coming into the All-Star break, everyone deserves a good break and then come back with some intensity.”

Sports

Column: Chicago Cubs reach the All-Star break by ending a 9-game skid. Will the 2nd half bring signs of progress?

Reporters eagerly inspected the damaged Chicago Cubs bat rack Sunday morning at Wrigley Field, searching for clues like paleontologists digging for dinosaur bones.Pieces of metal either bent or ripped off, a broken hand sanitizer with a piece of masking tape holding it together and a splintered chunk of wood on the frame were telltale signs that someone — or perhaps multiple people — vented on the wooden structure holding the players’ bats and helmets.AdvertisementThe beaten-up bat rack served as a perfect metaphor for the 2022 Cubs season, which reached the end of the first half Sunday with a 3-2 comeback win over the New York Mets.Nico Hoerner’s run-scoring single in the two-run eighth handed the Cubs their first win at Wrigley since July 2 against the Boston Red Sox.Advertisement“When you lose a lot of games in a row, you almost forget what it feels like,” starting pitcher Adrian Sampson said. “When you win a lot of games … you just know how to win. This is a good reminder for guys that this game is hard. We’re in the major leagues, and wins are hard to come by.”The Cubs avoided their second 10-game losing streak and moved out of a last-place tie with the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Central, improving to 18-32 at Wrigley. They’re on pace for 51 home losses, which would eclipse their all-time worst mark of 31-50 in 2013.Sampson’s pitching and some late-inning heroics sent the crowd of 34,424 home in a good mood. The Mets scored their two runs off Sampson on a steal of home by Starling Marte in the first after a botched pickoff play at first base and an RBI blooper by Pete Alonso in the fifth that first baseman Frank Schwindel misplayed in short right field.But Hoerner’s third single gave the Cubs the lead in the eighth, and David Robertson closed the door in the ninth.Cubs reliever David Robertson, left, celebrates with Nico Hoerner after the Cubs defeated the Mets on Sunday, July 17, 2022, at Wrigley Field. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)After Saturday’s doubleheader loss to the Mets, manager David Ross lauded the team’s effort against “a first-place team with a $300 million payroll.” Actually it’s $259 million, but who’s counting?Nevertheless, Ross seemed to suggest the Cubs are the little engine that could instead of a big-market franchise valued by Forbes at $3.36 billion. The truth is Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts chose this route and could compete with the Mets’ payroll if he wanted to.But you can’t blame Ross for feeling as though he’s being asked to win battle after battle without enough weapons, even as he knew what he was getting into. The Cubs went 33-64 over their final 97 games in 2021 and are 35-57 at the break, giving them a .360 winning percentage (68-121) under Ross since June 13, 2021. His predecessor, Joe Maddon, posted a .581 winning percentage in five years on the North Side before being let go.Before Sunday’s game, Ross said he welcomed the challenge of bringing this organization back to respectability.Advertisement“I think we all know we’re not where we want to be,” Ross said. “But the difficult challenges we go through make us better every single day, myself included. The players, being in the environments we’re getting put in right now, we’re going to be able to handle those moments better in the long run, years to come. Playing good teams (and) competing deep into games, extra-inning games, those are all really good things. We’ve just got to figure out ways to win ballgames, and I think we will.”Whether most of the players learning from the first-half struggles will be here in “years to come” is doubtful. Some probably won’t be here after the Aug. 2 trade deadline, including All-Star catcher Willson Contreras, who was mired in a 1-for-36 slump before his eighth-inning single Sunday.Cubs President Jed Hoyer is expected to unload in the next couple of weeks, though “unload” might not be the proper terminology. Back in 1997, when the Cubs lost their first 14 games and came out of the All-Star break with a win-or-else decree from the front office, manager Jim Riggleman corrected a reporter who used the term.“This is not cattle here,” Riggleman said. “We don’t use words like ‘unload.’ It’s not a matter of unloading.”Similarly, the Cubs would prefer you not use the word “rebuild” 25 years later. It’s always something with this organization. Perhaps they should hand out a list of forbidden words in spring training.Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdaysA daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.As bad as that ‘97 Cubs team was, it took a 37-50 record into the break in spite of the 0-14 start.Advertisement“You can’t get down and dislike each other because it can sure get nasty,” shortstop Shawon Dunston said then. “This is a good team. But when you win, everybody loves you. And when you lose, no one does. We have to like each other, whether we like it or not,”This year’s team gets along fine, and Hoerner said there’s a lot to look forward to in the second half.“Summer at Wrigley is always a positive to start with, so at least that’s guaranteed,” he said. “Take it for what it is, whatever is next. The Cubs have always done a really good job of putting quality people in the clubhouse, even with the turnover we’ve had in the last three, four years. That’s something I’ve always been very grateful for. … At the very minimum we have good people that are are going to be competing hard the rest of the season.”You never know what the future will bring. The ‘98 Cubs, one of the most exciting rides in franchise history, followed the ‘97 debacle. Still, it could be a long climb to get back to where this team needs to be, and all it starts Friday in Philadelphia.For now, take a deep breath and relax.The worst part is over, right?

Sports

Cameron Smith wins the British Open for his 1st major title

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Cameron Smith has won the British Open for his first major title.The Australian shot 8-under 64 to overturn a four-shot deficit in the final round. Rory McIlroy started the final round tied for the lead with Viktor Hovland.AdvertisementSmith finished on 20-under 268, the lowest score at a British Open at St. Andrews.McIlroy needed to eagle No. 18 to force a playoff but his chip went past the hole.

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Liam Hendriks added to the AL All-Star team — it’s the 3rd nod for the Chicago White Sox closer

MINNEAPOLIS — Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks has been added to the American League All-Star team, Major League Baseball announced Sunday.Hendriks is 1-2 with a 2.35 ERA, 45 strikeouts, 18 saves and a 0.95 WHIP in 30 relief appearances this season.AdvertisementHe’s an All-Star for the third time in his career, also making it in 2019 with the Oakland Athletics and last season with the Sox. He earned the save in last year’s All-Star Game at Coors Field in Denver.[ [Don’t miss] Column: Ranking all 30 MLB teams heading into the All-Star break. Where do the White Sox and Cubs stand? ]Hendriks is tied for fourth in the AL in saves. He missed nearly three weeks with a flexor strain in his right forearm.AdvertisementHendriks and Jordan Romano of the Toronto Blue Jays are replacing Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees and Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros.Hendriks joins Tim Anderson as Sox representatives at the All-Star Game. Anderson was voted the AL starting shortstop.