CHICAGO -- There are no moral victories for a team such as the talented, never-say-die 2026 White Sox, holding a 4 1/2-game lead in the American League Central with 38 games remaining.
But their 7-5 loss in 10 innings to the Cubs Monday night before 40,354 at Wrigley Field came pretty close to that category.
What transpired on the North Side went beyond a playoff atmosphere. It was more a feeling of everything being on the line with almost every pitch, every play. The White Sox trailed 2-0 after five pitches from Luis Castillo on home runs from Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki and fell behind 4-3 after seven innings.
They came back to take the lead on both occasions, but that sort of play-all-27-outs attitude has been exhibited by manager Will Venable’s squad all season. It wasn’t until Crow-Armstrong launched a hanging slider on a 2-1 count from rookie Hagen Smith for a walk-off homer that there was any sort of finality to one of the best battles in the long history of this Crosstown Classic.
“Being in Chicago, seeing the whole city here, it’s amazing,” White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas said. “A lot of White Sox fans out there also supporting us. I’m a little sad we couldn’t accomplish the win today but tomorrow is going to be a great day for us.”
“It was a fun game to play, obviously outside of the result,” Venable said. “We were able to hit those homers, and you hear the White Sox fans in the crowd, there was a lot of White Sox presence there, which was really cool to see. Just an electric atmosphere.”
Although Smith is a southpaw with top-notch stuff, one of the first postgame questions Venable answered centered on not intentionally walking the left-handed hitting Crow-Armstrong with first base open and Carson Kelly at second. The old rule of thumb is identify the best player on the opposing team and don’t let him beat you.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell believed the White Sox would pitch to Crow-Armstrong. Venable stood strong in his belief.
“No. That's not an option there with Seiya behind him,” Venable said. “That puts us in a tough spot and not a thought. I mean you think about all the options. But that's not one we're going to make there.
“With Seiya there, we want to be able to try and get the matchup we prefer with PCA. And then we probably walk Seiya behind him if we're able to get him out. Obviously that didn't happen.”
That Statcast-projected 391 foot blast down the right-field line, punctuated by an impressive Crow-Armstrong bat flip, marked the first hit and first runs allowed by Smith in his professional career over 4 2/3 innings. It comes against seven strikeouts and six walks.
Smith was ready for the matchup but pointed to location and execution as the ultimate problem.
“Yeah, just kind of hung a slider and he hit it. Just one of those things. I fell behind in the count and put myself in a bad position,” Smith said. “You want to do everything you can to help the team win. I made a bad pitch and we lost.
“Just have to execute better. That’s all it comes down to. He made a good swing. So give credit to him.”
Give credit to the White Sox (65-59), who turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead in the fourth on Randal Grichuk’s home run off Shota Imanaga. The Cubs’ southpaw struck out 10 in six innings and gave up just two hits, but the White Sox did enough.
Andrew Benintendi, pinch-hitting for Grichuk in the eighth, connected against Ryan Zeferjahn for a first-pitch, go-ahead two-run homer. And even when the Cubs rallied in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game on Nico Hoerner’s single, Jordan Hicks pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam to present the White Sox extra life.
Monday’s setback ended the White Sox three-game winning streak, marked the sixth time the White Sox have been walked off this season and gave the Cubs a 79-77 all-time edge with their seventh straight win at Wrigley in the series.
So, don’t look at this 3-hour, 21-minute battle as simply a good effort for the South Siders. But think about the two games left in this series and that oh so enticing possibility of them playing again in late October.
“Sign me up. Yeah, I’m in for all the fun. Everything,” said Counsell before the opener when asked about a potential World Series matchup. “You want to hype it up? I’m in for all of it. I’m sure Will and I are both in right now. Both in.”