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The Chicago White Sox provided an opening in the second inning of Tuesday’s City Series.
It wasn’t long before Dansby Swanson and the Chicago Cubs took advantage.
Swanson hit a two-run home run in the second, his first of two homers in the game against Michael Kopech, as the Cubs defeated the Sox 7-3 in front of a sellout crowd of 37,079 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The Cubs finished with four homers to win the opener of the two-game series.
The Sox continued their free fall, losing for the sixth time in seven games. They are a season-high 20 games under .500 at 41-61. The Cubs inched closer to the .500 mark (49-51) with their sixth win in seven games.
“We’ve been playing really well recently,” Swanson said. “I love our at-bats. I love the way we’re playing defense, the way the pitching staff’s going.
“It’s fun to be a part of a collective group that believes in one another and is willing to lay it out there each and every night.”
Swanson and Christopher Morel hit back-to-back homers in a three-run second inning.
But it was an error that began the rally.
Seiya Suzuki started the inning with a grounder to shortstop Tim Anderson, who made a throw on the run that bounced away from first baseman Andrew Vaughn for an error.
Kopech got ahead of Swanson in the count 1-2. Swanson connected on a 94.5 mph high fastball for a two-run homer to left.
Five pitches later, Morel clubbed a slider over the center-field wall.
“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. Ultimately I have to mix my pitches a little bit better. It’s one of those that’s tough to swallow that I’ve given up a lot of them.”
Swanson led off the fourth with a home run to left-center. It was his eighth career multi-home run game and his first with the Cubs. It’s the fifth time Kopech has allowed multiple home runs in a game this season.
“He got beat on a few fastballs, one on a 2-0 count (against Swanson in the fourth) he was trying to get back into the count,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “When he gets behind in the count, anybody is susceptible to home runs. Especially nowadays when everybody is looking to hit the ball in the air, launch angle, the whole works.”
Kopech allowed five runs (four earned) on nine hits with five strikeouts and one walk in five innings.
Meanwhile, Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks was cruising. The right-hander retired the first 12 batters, including fielding his own position well on a comebacker by Anderson in the first.
“He makes it easy on us,” Swanson said. “He’s in the strike zone. He’s moving in and out, up and down, changing speeds, keeping people off balance. It’s so fun to watch him go about his business.”
Designated hitter Eloy Jiménez doubled to left leading off the fifth for the first hit for the Sox. He scored on a grounder to first by Andrew Vaughn — back in the lineup after missing five games with a bruised left foot — to make it 5-1.
Hendriks allowed three runs on four hits with four strikeouts and one walk in 6 1/3 innings.
“They were really patient just letting me get ahead with pitches over the plate,” he said. “Second time through they started swinging and getting a lot more aggressive. So (catcher) Yan (Gomes) pointed it out right away, knew where we could go from there. Started mixing up some pitches.”
Nico Hoerner homered to lead off the seventh against Jesse Scholtens. When the Cubs weren’t hitting home runs they were stealing five bases. The fifth set up an RBI single by Swanson, his fourth RBI of the night.
The Cubs recorded five-plus stolen bases with four-plus home runs in a game for the first time since at least 1901.
“It’s turning base hits and walks into doubles,” Grifol said. “It’s not a good recipe to win games.”
Yoán Moncada, who returned from the injured list Tuesday after missing time with lower back inflammation, tried to get the Sox back in the game with one swing in the seventh. But Seiya Suzuki robbed him of what would have been a grand slam with a leaping catch at the right-field wall.
“Had a chance with (Moncada) … would have put the game at 7-5,” Grifol said.
All around, the night showed the recent direction both teams were headed.
