Cubs outlast White Sox 7‑5 in 10 innings at Wrigley

CHICAGO (Interstat) — Pete Crow-Armstrong homered twice, including a two-run walk-off shot in the 10th inning, and the Chicago Cubs outlasted the Chicago White Sox 7-5 on Monday night at Wrigley Field.

Crow-Armstrong finished 4-for-5 with two home runs and three RBIs, capping a back-and-forth contest in which the White Sox rallied from an early deficit and carried a lead into the bottom of the ninth. His game-ending blast off Hagen Smith scored Carson Kelly, who had singled ahead of him, and gave the Cubs their 73rd win against 53 losses.

The Cubs jumped ahead in the first inning when Crow-Armstrong led off with his 29th homer of the season and Seiya Suzuki followed with his 22nd, making it 2-0. The White Sox answered in the fourth against Chicago Cubs starter Shota Imanaga. Munetaka Murakami walked, Miguel Vargas singled, and Randal Grichuk launched a three-run homer to center field, his 10th, to put the White Sox ahead 3-2.

Imanaga settled down after that and finished six innings, allowing three earned runs on two hits while striking out 10. The Cubs regained the lead in the fifth. Seiya Suzuki walked, Alex Bregman singled, and after Ian Happ hit into a force out, Nico Hoerner singled to right field to drive in Suzuki and Happ. Hoerner advanced to second on a throwing error by third baseman Miguel Vargas, giving the Cubs a 4-3 edge.

The White Sox struck again in the eighth. Murakami walked again with one out, and Andrew Benintendi, pinch-hitting, drove a 1-0 pitch from Cubs reliever David Peterson over the wall in right-center for his 13th homer, putting the White Sox ahead 5-4. Braden Montgomery followed with a single, but the Cubs escaped further damage.

Chicago White Sox relievers held the lead until the bottom of the ninth. Michael Busch flied out to open the inning, but Alex Bregman walked. Ian Happ then walked, and Tyrone Taylor, running for Bregman, scored when Hoerner lined a single to center field, tying the game 5-5. Jordan Hicks intentionally walked Pedro Ramírez to load the bases, but Miguel Amaya struck out and Carson Kelly grounded into a force out to send the game to extra innings.

The White Sox threatened in the top of the 10th with the automatic runner, but Cubs reliever Jacob Webb worked around it. Murakami walked to load the bases with one out, but Vargas struck out, Benintendi struck out, and Montgomery walked to reload the bases. Tristan Peters grounded out to first to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 10th, Kelly singled off Smith, and Crow-Armstrong drove the first pitch he saw over the right-field wall for his 30th home run, ending the game. Smith, who took the loss, fell to 2-1. Webb pitched a scoreless 10th with two strikeouts to improve to 5-2.

Crow-Armstrong’s big night was the difference, but the Cubs also received four hits and two RBIs from Hoerner, who singled in the fifth, seventh, ninth and 10th innings. Suzuki added a homer and a walk. Bregman had two hits and scored twice.

For the White Sox, Grichuk drove in three with his homer and Benintendi added two RBIs. The White Sox managed only four hits total, with Montgomery and Vargas each collecting one. Murakami walked three times and scored two runs.

Chicago Cubs starter Shota Imanaga turned in his second consecutive strong outing, striking out 10 while allowing just two hits over six innings. David Peterson, Nate Pearson, and Webb combined for 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, with Peterson striking out one and Webb fanning two.

Chicago White Sox starter Luis Castillo worked 4 1/3 innings. Tyler Schweitzer pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, and Trevor Richards added 1 1/3 scoreless frames with one strikeout. Jordan Hicks allowed the tying run in the ninth, and Smith took the loss after serving up the decisive homer.

The Cubs finished with 14 hits, while the White Sox pitchers, as a group, combined for 32 strikes, 73 balls and 32 balls in play. Cubs pitchers recorded 21 strikes, 65 balls and 21 balls in play. The game took 3 hours, 21 minutes and drew a crowd of 40,354.

The White Sox, who fell to 65-59, had won their previous three games. The Cubs, now 73-53, rebounded from a pair of losses to St. Louis over the weekend. The teams continue their two-game series Tuesday night, with the White Sox scheduled to send a starter to the mound against the Cubs again.

The game also marked the third meeting of the season between the crosstown rivals, with the Cubs having won two of the first three. The May series at Guaranteed Rate Field split two games, and the Cubs won the opener in this return engagement.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Chicago Cubs 6, Chicago White Sox 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Cubs a 62.10 percent probability to win, and the Cubs were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The combined total of 12 runs went under the over/under line of 8.5.