Soxrally for2-gameseries sweepofCubsatWrigley

By SCOT GREGOR sgregor@dailyherald.com

CHICAGO –The weather was rough, the refurbished visiting clubhouse is still cramped, and the majority of the crowd of 36,755 was pulling for the home team.

Still, the White Sox probably were alittlesad to be saying so long to Wrigley Field for another year after hanging a4-3 loss on the Cubs on Wednesday night.

The Sox swept the brief two-game interleague series and have won five in arow at Wrigley and7of8dating to the 2020 season.

It was abit warmer on the North Side on Wednesday, and the Sox and Cubs each hit two home runs.

After Jose Abreu gave the Sox the early lead with asolo shot off starter Kyle Hendricks in the first inning, theCubs answered in the second.

Nico Hoerner hit atwo-run homer off Lucas Giolito, and Patrick Wisdom gave the Cubs a3-1 lead with another home run.

Leury Garcia went deep for the Soxinthe third inning to make it 3-2 before GavinSheets tied it with an RBI single in the fourth.

AJ Pollock’s bloop single to right field with two outs in the sixth inning put the Sox back in front for good.

Although the Cubs are ashell of what they were from 2015-20, they did threaten to end the Sox’s recent run of success in the eighth inning.

With Aaron Bummer on in relief, Wisdom led off with asingle and advanced to third on Nick Madrigal’s single.

Bummer struck out pinch hitter

Yan Gomez before being lifted for Matt Foster.

Getting the job done in another high leverage appearance, Foster got SeiyaSuzuki to pop out to Sheets at first base and got of the jam by retiring Ian Happ on acalled third strike.

The Sox headed out of Wrigley Field happyagain,eventhough they almost lost Luis Robert to injury.

With Happ on first base and two outs in the sixth, Willson Contreras crushed aReynaldo Lopez pitch to center field.

Robert chased the drive down and made the catch before banging into theleft wall. He appeared to hurt his left shoulder and was briefly down on the warningtrack,but Robert got to his feet and stayed in the game.

Giolito,who pitched 52/3 innings and allowed three runs on three hits and two walks whilestriking out 10, looks forward to when the Sox and Cubs hook up.

“It’s always agoodtime, whether it’s at Wrigley or our spot,” he said. “It’s asuperfunseries.The fans are getting intoit, youknowsometimes they’ll get too much, but it’s always entertaining to see. Andjustseeing the passion of the entire city, whether they’re a Cubs fanoraWhite Soxfan packing out the stadium,thatalways makes for agreat environment to play in.”

Just like in Tuesday night’s 3-1 win over theCubs, South Sidefans were chanting “Let’s go Sox” as Liam Hendriks closed it out in the ninth inning.

“They come out and support,” shortstopTim Anderson said. “You know what these gamesmean to the fans. Just happy to go out and compete.”

Mlb

3-GAME PLANNER SOCCER

Friday: vs.Los Angeles Dodgers, 1:20 p.m., Marquee

Saturday: vs.Los Angeles Dodgers, 1:20 p.m., Marquee

Sunday: vs.Los Angeles Dodgers, 6:08 p.m., ESPN

Friday: at Boston RedSox,6:10p.m., Apple TV+

Saturday: at Boston RedSox, 3:10 p.m., NBCSCH

Sunday: at Boston RedSox, 10:35 a.m., NBC, Peacock

Nbaplayoffs

CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS (Best-of-7) x-if necessary Eastern Conference Milwaukee 1, Boston 1

Sunday: Milwaukee 101, Boston 89

Tuesday: Boston 109, Milwaukee 86

Saturday: Boston at Milwaukee, 2:30 p.m., ABC

Monday: Boston at Milwaukee, 6:30 p.m., TNT Miami 2, Philadelphia 0

Monday: Miami 106, Philadelphia 92

Wednesday: Miami 119, Philadelphia 103

Friday: Miami at Philadelphia, 6p.m.,

ESPN

Sunday: Miami at Philadelphia, 7p.m., TNT Western Conference Phoenix 1, Dallas 0

Monday: Phoenix 121, Dallas 114

Wednesday: Dallas at Phoenix (n)

Friday: Phoenix at Dallas, 8:30 p.m., ESPN

Sunday: Phoenix at Dallas, 2:30 p.m.,

ESPN Golden State 1, Memphis 1

Sunday: Golden State 117, Memphis 116

Tuesday: Memphis 106, Golden State 101

Saturday: Memphis at Golden State, 7:30 p.m., ABC

Monday: Memphis at Golden State, 9p.m., TNT

Auto Racing

NASCAR CUP SERIES

Goodyear 400

Site: Darlington, South Carolina

Schedule: Saturday, practice, 9:30 a.m., and qualifying, 10:05 a.m.; Saturday, race, 2:30 p.m. (FS1)

Track: Darlington Raceway

Race distance: 293 laps, 400.2 miles

Last year: Martin Truex Jr. wonafter starting fourth.

Last race: Chase Elliott led the final 53 of 400 laps, contested overtwo days because of rain at Dover, to earn his first victory of the season.

Fast facts: Elliott increased his points lead from 21 to 50 overRyanBlaney

Playoffs

p.m. Washington (Sanchez 1-1) at Colorado (Senzatela 2-1), 2:10 p.m.

N.Y. Mets (Walker 0-0) at Philadelphia (Nola 1-3), 5:45 p.m. Miami (Luzardo 2-1) at San Diego (Martinez 1-2), 8:40 p.m.

St. Louis (Mikolas 1-1) at San Francisco (Webb 3-1), 8:45 p.m.

Friday’s Games

L.A. Dodgers at Cubs,1:20 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 5:40 p.m.

N.Y. Mets at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m. Milwaukee at Atlanta, 6:20 p.m.

Washington at L.A. Angels, 8:38 p.m.

Colorado at Arizona, 8:40 p.m. Miami at San Diego, 8:40 p.m. St. Louis at San Francisco, 9:15 p.m.

CALENDAR

April 26-June 24: Salary arbitration hearings, held remotely

May2: Rosters reduced to 26 players.

June 14-16: Owners meeting, New York.

July 17-19: Amateur draft, LosAngeles.

William Byron and Kyle Busch sharethird, 65 points back. Elliott also became the ninth different winner in 11 races and the fourth Hendrick Motorsports driver to win this season; no other organization has had all four of its drivers win in the first 11 races of aseason. ... The top six drivers have accounted for seven victories thus far, with Byron and Ross Chastain having twoeach and Blaney none.

Next race: May15, Kansas City,Kansas

FORMULA ONE

Miami Grand Prix

Site: Miami, Florida

Schedule: Friday, practice, 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.; Saturday, practice, noon, and qualifying, 3p.m.; Sunday, race, 2:30 p.m.

Track: Miami International Autodrome

Race distance: 57 laps, 191.6 miles

Last year: New venue

Last race: Defending series champion Max Verstappen rebounded from ablown engine in the previous race and led Red Bull’s first 1-2 finish since 2016 as he won from the pole at Imola.

Fast facts: Verstappen jumped from sixth to second in the points race, now27behind Charles LeClerc. Each has wonapair of the four races run this season. LeClerchas led143 of the228 laps run so faror62.7 %.

Next race: May22, Barcelona, Spain

FIRST ROUND (Best-of-7) (x-if necessary)

Wednesday Carolina 5, Boston 2

TampaBay 5, Toronto 3 St. Louis at Minnesota (n) LosAngeles at Edmonton (n)

Thursday Pittsburgh at N.Y. Rangers, 6p.m.

Washington at Florida, 6:30 p.m.

Nashville at Colorado, 8:30 p.m.

Dallas at Calgary,9p.m.

Friday Carolina at Boston, 6p.m.

Toronto at TampaBay,6:30 p.m.

Minnesota at St. Louis, 8:30 p.m.

Edmonton at LosAngeles, 9p.m.

Saturday

Florida at Washington, noon

Colorado at Nashville, 3:30 p.m.

N.Y. Rangers at Pittsburgh, 6p.m.

Calgary at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday Carolina at Boston, 11:30 a.m.

Minnesota at St. Louis, 3:30 p.m.

Toronto at TampaBay,6p.m.

Edmonton at LosAngeles, 9p.m.

Monday N.Y. Rangers at Pittsburgh, 6p.m.

Florida at Washington, 6p.m.

Calgary at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.

Colorado at Nashville, 8:30 p.m.