Urquidy's relief heroics punctuate South Siders' gritty Crosstown Classic win

CHICAGO -- José Urquidy wasn’t among the White Sox thoughts when the team assembled for Spring Training back in February at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz.

He wasn’t part of the organization when the Cubs and White Sox met for the first time from May 15-17, a series won by the White Sox on Edgar Quero’s walkoff homer. But Urquidy was exactly what the South Siders needed Wednesday afternoon at Wrigley Field during a 3-0 victory before 40,086 fans.

After Sean Newcomb hurled two scoreless innings as the opener, Urquidy dominated over the next five with eight strikeouts. In fact, Urquidy had eight strikeouts of the first nine outs he recorded.

Tyrone Taylor had the lone two hits off Urquidy, including a leadoff double in the sixth. But he was quickly erased on an ill-advised tag-up from second on Pete Crow-Armstrong’s lineout to right fielder Braden Montgomery. Taylor had to retreat to the base before tagging up and Montgomery nailed him at third by six steps on a 95.1 mph throw, according to Statcast.

That’s the fastest-tracked assist by a White Sox outfielder since Oscar Colas had a 100.9 mph toss on July 23, 2023. Left fielder Sam Antonacci continued the White Sox defensive prowess opening the seventh, leaping into the vines in left to take away extra bases from Alex Bregman.

The first run of the game came in the sixth on Miguel Vargas’ double and Andrew Benintendi’s single off Clay Holmes. Montgomery’s two-run double in the eighth off Ryan Rolison, following a Randal Grichuk double, gave the White Sox and Urquidy some breathing room. The win finished off the Crosstown Cup season series at 3-3, with the Cubs retaining the bragging rights as the decision defaulted to last year’s winner in case of a tie.