The White Sox youth movement dominates the Cubs in Crosstown opener

The South Siders beat the snot out of the slumping North Siders in a 12-5 win

Pardon my French, but the White Sox opened a can of whoop ass on the Cubs and never looked back, continuing their post-All-Star break hot streak.

Let’s break down this huge win!

The White Sox bats started hot, as Chase Meidroth started the bottom of the first with a homer:

Austin Slater kept the momentum going with a single, and Edgar Quero found a hole for another hit. Andrew Benintendi struck out — but the bats weren’t finished yet. Miguel Vargas singled to load the bases, and Lenyn Sosa took advantage by driving in two runs with a single:

The runs would end there for the first, but the Good Guys took an early 3-0 lead.

Colson Montgomery decided to continue his home run streak, with his third home run in three games, to begin the bottom of the second:

Meidroth followed with a single, and with one out Quero got his second hit of the game. Benintendi knocked Meidroth in with an RBI single, prompting a meeting at the mound for Imanaga — and Chris Flexen to start warming up in the bullpen.

Imanaga got through the last two outs, but not before the Sox went up, 5-0.

As the Cubs remained off of the board, in the third Michael A. Taylor got lucky on a dropped fly that was ruled a double when Ian Happ and Pete Crow-Armstrong went for the same ball and PCA dropped it. Taylor was ultimately stranded on second, but I got a good laugh out of the play:

Tucker singled and Suzuki picked up a walk to start the fourth. PCA was robbed of what could’ve been a three-run homer, keeping the Cubs scoreless. The Sox continued applying pressure, as Slater sent a ball over the wall for the third White Sox home run of the night, way above the head of PCA.

Flexen was back up in the pen as Imanaga neared 80 pitches. Happ continued to struggle with fielding, as Quero hit a stand-up double. That prompted Flexen to step in with no outs and a runner on second, trying to put out the fire. Vargas singled to put runners at the corners with one out, and Sosa knocked in his third runner of the night on a sac fly:

Before I could even type the current score, Mike Tauchman launched the ball to right field for a two-run homer. With that, every batter on the team had officially reached base, before the fourth inning was over. Taylor struck out, but the Good Guys put up a four-spot to make it 9-0 before the game was half over.

In the fifth, Meidroth collected his third hit of the night, with a one-out single. Slater reached on a fielding error, and a wild pitch from Flexen would advance both runners. Quero, smacking his fourth hits of the night, took advantage of the previous play with an RBI single to make it 10-0:

Vargas continued the inning with an RBI single of his own, making it 11-0. Sosa ended the inning, as Cubs fans left the ballpark in droves:

Houser had another 1-2-3 inning, while the Cubs went deeper into their bullpen for the sixth inning. Drew Pomeranz was the first pitcher to retire the Sox in order, keeping the sixth quiet.

Houser was back in for the seventh, with fewer than 65 pitches when the frame started. He issued a leadoff walk to PCA, and another to Happ, prompting a meeting at the mound and Tyler Gilbert to start warming. McGuire jacked a ball to put the Cubs on the board with a three-run homer, and Bruján singled to take Houser out of the game. With a grab by Taylor, any further threats were thwarted, with the score staying 11-3.

Gilbert went 1-2-3 in the eighth, thwarting any comeback ideas for the Cubs. Meanwhile, John Berti stepped on the mound as a position player pitcher and gave up a one-out walk to Josh Rojas. Sosa followed up with a double, and Brooks Baldwin knocked another run in despite grounding out:

With just three outs to go, the South Siders were up, 12-3.

Matt Shaw doubled to start the ninth, and after one out, Nico Hoerner singled. McGuire drove in another run with the stroke of the bat to make it 12-4. Not wanting to go out quietly, the bases were loaded with a Bruján single. A struggling Steven Wilson walked in a run with two outs, but managed to bounce back, getting Berti to ground out and end the game.

Oh, and Cubs fans are mad and accusing the White Sox of cheating. We’re so back, baby!

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