It’s pretty rare that I feel like a bad Cubs loss requires an extra set of eyes in a post to highlight everything about the game, but that one was just so freaking nuts.
Among the things that happened in the 17-13 White Sox win over the course of four hours and nine minutes, which secured them the COVETED CROSSTOWN CUP:
⇒ The Cubs got out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning off of Dallas Keuchel, who had to throw 38 pitches to get through the inning (which was capped by a not-quite double-steal of second and home where the throw home would’ve easily beaten Jason Heyward, but was thrown completely away).
⇒ The White Sox made Keegan Thompson ALSO throw 38 pitches in the first inning, though he got out of a bases loaded jam to limit the damage. His night, however, was quite short.
⇒ Tony La Russa pulled Keuchel after one pitch – a strike – in the second inning. It was a weird one, but it sure worked out, since Keuchel’s replacement, Reynaldo Lopez, dominated the Cubs for the next five perfect innings.
⇒ The White Sox easily came back to tie the game, capped by a Yasmani Grandal three-run homer, his first of two on the night, in just his first game back from the IL. He had EIGHT RBI in the game, tying a White Sox record.
⇒ The White Sox took the lead that they would not relinquish on a pop up to shortstop Andrew Romine, who just flat out dropped it with two outs. The kind of drop you don’t ever, ever see in the big leagues. He had also made a fielding error earlier in the inning.
⇒ The White Sox poured it on from there (they batted around TWICE in the game), getting out to a 13-6 lead. The crazy thing is that the Cubs would eventually ALSO score 13 runs, but the White Sox had already bumped their number to 17.
⇒ Three of the Cubs’ later runs came off of Craig Kimbrel, who gave up homers to Ian Happ and Patrick Wisdom (who hit two on the night of his birthday, both of which were absolutely destroyed).
⇒ Michael Hermosillo, who also homered in the game, was flying all around the outfield making great catches, including one that might’ve been a homer robbery on an Andrew Vaughn deep fly.
⇒ (Oh, and the whole set of wildness kicked off before the game even started, as David Bote tripped during batting practice and sprained his ankle.)
⇒ From Cubs.com: “Per Cubs historian Ed Hartig, this marks the first time since July 27-28, 1894, that the franchise lost consecutive games when scoring 10-plus runs in each contest.”
⇒ If you didn’t see the game, or just want to see some of the highlights again, this is a package to review. What a ridiculous game: