South Siders' grit on display despite loss in Crosstown Classic opener

CHICAGO -- Here’s a news flash coming from the Cubs’ 10-5 victory over the White Sox on Friday night before the South Siders' first sellout crowd of the 2026 season.

The White Sox are not going to win every game remaining on the 2026 schedule. Despite their five-game winning streak coming to an end and the team dipping back to .500 at 22-22, while staying one game back of Cleveland (24-22) in the American League Central, they still took some positives away from the evening.

“We battled the whole nine innings,” said White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas, who homered and doubled in four at-bats. “We stayed doing that, a great job. I feel that's a mentality for us, to keep going. The game's not finished. Tomorrow is going to be a new day for us.”

Friday’s series opener was a day the White Sox had targeted during this strong start to the season. It was the first Crosstown Classic matchup with the National League Central-leading Cubs (29-16) and the first time since September 2020 when both Chicago teams entered the contest with a winning record.

There was something different in the atmosphere, noted especially by White Sox fans, who had endured three straight seasons with 100-plus losses during this rebuild. Suddenly, they found themselves in the hunt for the AL Central’s top spot, even at the one-quarter mark of the season.

“To me, I don’t think they are rebuilding anymore,” said Ozzie Guillen, the team's pregame and postgame host on CHSN, who had a 25-23 record against the Cubs as White Sox manager. “But they are still in the process.”

“Look, this team has been in a different situation [in recent years]. And they’re in the middle of it right now,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of the White Sox. “Frankly, the last couple years, by this time of year, they just weren’t. That’s meaningful. That’s meaningful for the fans. It’s meaningful for the players. It’s meaningful for the organization. That’s a big deal."

Colson Montgomery, who has become a big deal in his own right as the South Siders’ starting shortstop, homered in the second off Edward Cabrera, marking his 12th this season and 33rd in 114 career games. The Cubs built up a 4-1 lead off Sean Burke in the fifth, only to have Vargas tie the game in the sixth with a leadoff opposite-field home run.

The White Sox bullpen could not hold the Cubs steady, as Bryan Hudson gave up two runs after going 19 straight appearances without allowing any. Jordan Hicks walked four and threw two wild pitches during a four-run eighth, but even in the ninth, Jarred Kelenic was able to connect on a 446-foot home run off Javier Assad for this hard-fighting crew.

Too little, too late, in this instance.

“That's a job that we've been doing since last year,” Vargas said. “Since the second half, we've been trying to be consistent at the plate and be the best we can be, be really deep in the lineup, all nine hitters, not just two or three guys. That makes everyone better."

“Yeah, you know, there's opportunities there to take the lead,” said White Sox manager Will Venable, whose team had a first-and-third, one-out situation in the sixth after tying the game but could not score. “These guys have been doing a good job of continuing to battle, having quality at-bats. It just wasn't enough tonight.”

With this series-opening win, the Cubs improved to 78-75 all-time in this Chicago-based competition, 14-3 in the last 17 and 7-1 over the last eight at Rate Field. The White Sox aren’t really worried about their opponent as much as what they are doing on a daily basis, but the opponent mattered Friday and the atmosphere was everything the South Siders expected.

Another sellout is expected Saturday night, which seems fitting not just for the rivalry but for the success of both teams.

“[The crowd] was awesome,” Burke said. “I think that we keep winning games, this is a huge rivalry here this weekend. But if we keep playing the baseball we can play, we expect more games to kind of be like that one.”

"Before today, we had five straight wins. We had to lose [at some point],” Vargas said. “Today, we did a really good job, we played all nine innings. Our expectation for tomorrow is to win the game, and we'll be ready for it.”