CHICAGO – Munetaka Murakami made a dent in the Cubs’ dominance during Tuesday night’s crosstown contest at Wrigley Field.
But that damage inflicted by the White Sox first baseman was of the actual physical nature, as he hit the bottom of the Wintrust video board in left-center with a Statcast-projected 406-foot opposite field home run off Kevin Gausman in the third inning. It was an impressive moment amid two days filled with great baseball moments.
The results for the White Sox, though, stayed the same. A second straight loss. A second straight heartbreaking walk-off loss, this one by a 4-3 margin courtesy of Alex Bregman’s two-out single off Trevor Richards in the ninth. Aside from a 1 hour, 28 minute rain delay coming in the bottom of the eighth, the feelings of hard-working pride mixed with disappointment remain the same.
“Tough finish, but again just really proud of the guys for continuing to battle there,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Tough result again, but just a really good job by the guys."
“Yeah, tough,” White Sox right-hander Erick Fedde said. “I think our team has played with a lot of heart. Nothing to be ashamed about. Obviously not on the right side of it, but we’ve had timely hitting, timely defense. Just unfortunately been on the wrong side of it.”
For the second straight game, Pete Crow-Armstring opened the scoring with a first-inning, leadoff home run. For the second straight game, the Cubs hit two solo homers in the first inning, with Michael Busch following Crow-Armstring this time against opener Bryan Hudson.
It was Fedde, though, who gave the White Sox (65-60) a chance to get back in the game. Fedde battled through a first-and-third, nobody-out situation in the second after allowing singles to Pedro Ramírez and Ian Happ. He retired Seiya Suzuki on a grounder with the bases loaded and went on to pitch scoreless baseball over 4 2/3 innings, striking out five.
Fedde’s performance was essential for a team in the middle of 16 straight games with no off-day until Aug. 27 and a thin pitching staff. It was important for Fedde, as well, after moving from the rotation to a slightly unaccustomed relief role.
Taking off this past weekend’s series in Detroit helped Fedde feel more in tune with the normal five-day routine.
“Honestly, I felt like just kind of treating every pitch today like it was the most important pitch I’ve thrown this year,” Fedde said. “Not even thinking about when I was coming out. Kind of giving it my all and when they decided it was my time, so be it. My goal there was to go deep for the guys and give us a chance to win some ballgames.”
Doubles from Colson Montgomery and Tristan Peters off Gausman in the fourth gave the White Sox a 3-2 lead, which held until the seventh, when Bregman connected on a third straight slider from Grant Taylor for a game-tying single. Second baseman Chase Meidroth’s spectacular defensive play on Busch’s two-out grounder stranded two runners in the seventh, setting the stage for Bregman in the ninth.
Taylor entered with runners on first and second and nobody out in that seventh, but struck out Crow-Armstrong and Suzuki. He would have gone back for a second inning if not for the extended delay, with Trevor Richards working a scoreless eighth instead.
Sean Newcomb, who opens Wednesday, also was warming up in the ninth, but he was basically going in if the White Sox scored in the top half. Richards returned with the game tied and had pitched around Carson Kelly’s leadoff double until Bregman’s single up the middle.
Venable’s team maintains a four-game lead over the Twins and a 4 1/2-game edge over the Tigers and Guardians in the American League Central. Tuesday’s win gave the Cubs a 3-2 edge in the season series, and kept the Crosstown Cup trophy back on the North Side, as a series tie defaults to the previous season series winner. It also was the White Sox eighth straight setback at Wrigley.
Sweeping Detroit over the weekend certainly had a more important feel than this Cubs series for intra-city bragging rights. But with Wednesday afternoon’s finale on the horizon, the White Sox would like to make more of a dent than Murakami’s long home run.
“I didn’t really think it was going to go that far, but yeah, it was a clean hit,” Murakami said through interpreter Kenzo Yagi. “It’s an amazing atmosphere and playing in front of these crowds in Chicago is really nice. Obviously it’s really disappointing that we lost today. So just get back there tomorrow and try to win.”