NEWSLETTER
The Cubs accepted the gift of playing a team like the White Sox at a key moment in the season, and accepted the many runs bestowed upon them by the White Sox tonight.
Jon Lester labored a bit through his five innings of work, but he kept things within reason, and the bullpen was solid from there.
Offensively, the Cubs got a two-run blast from Javy Baez right out of the gate before Lucas Giolito settled in against them. The Cubs got a gift of three runs in the 5th inning thanks to a horribly, horribly misjudged fly ball by Ryan LaMarre in left field, which went down as a run-scoring Daniel Murphy double. The Cubs added two more from there in the inning.
The bullpen would have made that stand up, but the Cubs added a few more for good measure in the 9th – thanks in large part to more goofery by the White Sox. It’s almost like they aren’t very good right now.
And thanks to the Pirates beating the Brewers, the Cubs’ magic number drops to six! Woo!
