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| Chicago White Sox's Tyler Saladino celebrates his game winning RBI single scoring J.B. Shuck off a pitch from Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Mike Montgomery during the ninth inning of a baseball game Monday, July 25, 2016, in Chicago. The White Sox won 5-4. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) |
The Chicago Cubs definitely could have used Aroldis Chapman on Monday night.
Saladino hit a game-ending RBI single, and the White Sox put a damper on the Cubs' trade for Chapman with a 5-4 victory.
"It was a lot of fun, a lot of energy there and it felt really good to get that done for the guys," Saladino said.
J.B. Shuck sparked the winning rally with a leadoff single against Mike Montgomery (3-5), who was acquired in a deal with Seattle last Wednesday. Shuck advanced on Dioner Navarro's sacrifice and Saladino followed with a bouncer into center field.
Dan Jennings (4-2) got two outs for the win. Coupled with two late victories against Detroit on Sunday, it was the first time since August 1962 that the White Sox had won three consecutive games in their last at-bat, according to STATS LLC.
"We've been all over the place," manager Robin Ventura said. "These guys are resilient. They fight back, they come every day to play hard. You need some stuff to go your way and I think tonight was one of those."
The Cubs trailed 4-2 before Dexter Fowler and Anthony Rizzo each hit an RBI single in the ninth. They had runners on first and second with two out when Jennings struck out Jason Heyward to escape the threat.
Javier Baez hit a two-run homer for the Cubs, who were coming off a nice weekend series in Milwaukee.
Todd Frazier hit a three-run drive off Jake Arrieta and Miguel Gonzalez pitched 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball, helping the White Sox improve to 5-5 in interleague play. Melky Cabrera made an outstanding leaping catch in the first, robbing Kris Bryant of a home run.
"It wasn't a really hard fly ball, it was more high and I tracked the ball perfectly," Cabrera said.
Moments after he lost his bat into the stands in the sixth, Frazier drove the next pitch from Arrieta over the wall in center for his 29th homer. He also connected against Arrieta last year, when the ace right-hander allowed just 10 homers all year long on his way to the NL Cy Young Award.
"Just need to execute better there," Arrieta said.
The NL Central-leading Cubs had won seven of 10 after a midseason slide, and they bolstered their already solid bullpen with the acquisition of the hard-throwing Chapman in a trade with the Yankees on Monday. The left-hander is expected to join the Cubs for Tuesday night's game against the White Sox.
"When you make a maneuver like this, it's got to be obvious that it's going to be very helpful," manager Joe Maddon said, "and it's very obvious that this will be."
Chasing their first World Series title since 1908, the Cubs sent top shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres, versatile pitcher Adam Warren and minor league outfielders Billy McKinney and Rashad Crawford to New York for Chapman, who has 166 saves and a 2.16 ERA in seven years in the majors.
"It's an aggressive move," president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said. "It was tough to give up what we gave up, but if not now, when? This is the appropriate move given where we are and what we're trying to accomplish."
While Chapman gives Chicago a shutdown reliever for its bullpen, the Cubs are still looking for Arrieta to get back on track. He pitched seven crisp innings against the Mets in his previous start, but allowed four runs in six innings against the White Sox and has just one win in his last six outings.
WORTH NOTING
White Sox closer David Robertson, who had pitched three times in two days, was unavailable.
SALE'S RETURN
White Sox ace Chris Sale will start on Thursday at Wrigley Field in his first appearance since he was suspended for five days for destroying collared throwback uniforms the team was scheduled to wear. The 27-year-old Sale was scratched from his scheduled start Saturday against Detroit and sent home after he cut up an unknown number of jerseys before the game. The 1976-style jerseys were navy and sported unusual collars on a hot and humid night.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cubs: SS Addison Russell was in the starting lineup a day after he departed Chicago's 6-5 victory at Milwaukee with a left heel contusion.
White Sox: 2B Brett Lawrie (strained left hamstring) missed his fourth consecutive game, but Ventura said he was available in an emergency. ... LHP Carlos Rodon (sprained left wrist) allowed two earned runs and five hits in 3 2/3 innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Charlotte. He also had a throwing error.
UP NEXT
Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (9-6, 2.27 ERA) looks to continue his breakout year on Tuesday night against White Sox RHP James Shields (4-12, 4.99 ERA). Hendricks is 5-0 with a sparkling 0.72 ERA in his last seven games, six starts. Shields has dropped each of his last three starts, but has a 2.08 ERA in 21 2/3 innings during the slide.
