Third time’s the charm, or so they say. After two nights of late-inning faceplants at Wrigley, the White Sox finally got the last laugh, blanking the Cubs, 3-0, and sneaking out of the North Side with a win.
And José Urquidy was exactly the hero an exhausted pitching staff needed.
Urquidy carved up the Cubs for six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and no walks while striking out eight. More importantly, he gave a bullpen that had been running on fumes a much-needed breather. The White Sox
did just about everything right in this one — pitching, defense and, eventually, the clutch knocks they needed to put the game away.
The offense, however, apparently needed a few innings to remember that pounding Clay Holmes’ pitches into the dirt wasn’t going to be the winning formula.
The top of the first was an early indication of how things were going to go against Holmes, as the Sox went down in order on just 11 pitches, with two of the three outs coming on grounders.
Andrew Benintendi tried a different approach in the second, grinding out a 10-pitch walk, but Braden Montgomery immediately followed with — you guessed it — a ground out. Colson Montgomery managed an infield single that Pedro Ramírez made a nice play to keep from reaching the outfield, but Chase Meidroth and Tristan Peters followed with two more grounders to kill the threat. It’s almost like someone wrote in the game thread that the Sox probably weren’t going to beat Holmes by pounding the ball into the dirt. Make him work, don’t chase and look for something to elevate.
Guess they didn’t read it.
Fortunately, the pitching staff had no trouble following the game plan.
Sean Newcomb handled the first two innings, allowing only a walk in each frame before handing things over to Urquidy.
The Sox offense remained stubbornly attached to the ground in the third, recording three more ground-ball outs. Sam Antonacci worked a one-out walk, and Miguel Vargas added a two-out single, but the clutch knock never arrived.
Urquidy made his first appearance in the third and immediately announced that the Cubs were going to have a long afternoon. Tyrone Taylor reached on an infield single, but Urquidy struck out the side in a 17-pitch inning.
Braden led off the fourth with a single, but Colson struck out, and Braden was caught napping to complete a strike-’em-out, throw-’em-out double play. Then Meidroth grounded out, because of course he did.
Urquidy, meanwhile, was cruising. He needed just 10 pitches to retire the Cubs in the fourth, striking out two. Then he punched out the side in the fifth. Absolutely nasty.
The Sox did manage another hit in the fifth when Jake Rogers singled out of the nine-hole for his first hit with the Good Guys. Antonacci followed by grounding into a force out while also burning a challenge on the play. After the last few days, the Sox might want to take another look at their ABS challenge policy. Munetaka Murakami then grounded out on a nice play by Alex Bregman, and the game remained scoreless.
Finally, in the sixth, the Sox figured out how to get the ball off the ground.
Vargas led off with a double, and Benintendi — who continues to have a knack for coming through when the Sox need him — ripped an RBI single to give the South Siders a 1-0 lead.
Braden followed with another grounder, which was enough to chase Holmes in favor of Caleb Thielbar. Braden didn’t stick around long, as Thielbar promptly picked him off.
Then came perhaps the defensive play of the afternoon.
Taylor opened the bottom of the sixth with a double, giving the Cubs their first real opportunity against Urquidy. Pete Crow-Armstrong lined out to Braden in right, and Taylor apparently did not read the scouting report about running on Montgomery’s arm. The rookie unleashed an absolute laser to Vargas at third to double him off and erase the runner.
The throw brought back flashes of Bo Jackson in 1993. Yeah, it was that pretty.
Suzuki grounded out on the next pitch, and just like that, Urquidy had escaped the inning on five pitches.
Meidroth singled to open the seventh, but Peters grounded into a force out. Rogers then gave one a ride 361 feet to left, only for the Wrigley wind to knock it down for the second out, and Antonacci struck out to end the inning.
The defense flashed the leather again in the bottom half. Bregman sent one all the way to the ivy in left, but Antonacci, at the top of his defensive game, made a highlight-reel play to take away a hit.
Urquidy needed just eight pitches to get through another scoreless frame.
The Sox finally gave themselves some breathing room in the eighth. Murakami grounded out before Vargas worked a walk, and pinch-hitter Randal Grichuk doubled to put runners at second and third. This time, Braden delivered. The rookie got a high fastball and ripped it down the first-base line, bringing home Vargas and Grichuk to extend the lead to 3-0.
Colson followed by smoking a ball right at Suzuki, and Meidroth struck out to end the inning, but the damage was done.
Urquidy came back out for the eighth and continued to dominate, retiring the Cubs in order on 12 pitches to finish off a brilliant afternoon: six innings, two hits, no walks and eight strikeouts.
The Sox threatened to add on in the ninth after Peters drew a four-pitch walk and Antonacci worked a seven-pitch one-out free pass. After a Mune ground out, the Cubs intentionally walked Vargas to load the bases, but Grichuk popped out to leave them loaded.
No worries. Three runs were plenty.
Grant Taylor came on for the save and struck out pinch-hitter Michael Conforto before getting PCA to pop out. Suzuki worked a two-out walk, but Taylor froze Bregman for strike three to finish off the shutout and finally — finally — send the White Sox home from Wrigley with something to celebrate.
No sweep for you, Cubs.
Now it’s back on the bus to the South Side, where the Sox will welcome Atlanta for Thursday’s makeup of the June 11 rainout. And frankly, the Braves owe us one after getting swept by the Twins. What are we doing, Atlanta? Come on. The Pirates, meanwhile, beat the Tigers, so we thank them for their service.
After the way the first two games at Wrigley ended, a 3-0 win, a rested bullpen and a little help from Pittsburgh isn’t a bad way to head home.
MVP
José Urquidy: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K, W
MVP Runners-Up
Braden Montgomery: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, 2B, PO, CS
Andrew Benintendi: 1-for-2, RBI, BB
Randal Grichuk: 1-for-2, R, 2B
Miguel Vargas: 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, 2B
Sean Newcomb: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB
Grant Taylor: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 2 K, S
Cold Cat
Munetaka Murakami: 0-for-5
Cold Cat Runners-Up
Tristan Peters: 0-for-3, BB
Sam Antonacci: 0-for-3, 2 BB
