Tim Anderson homered and six Chicago White Sox pitchers combined on a six-hitter with 12 strikeouts to keep their struggling crosstown rival, the host Chicago Cubs, in check for a 3-1 victory on Tuesday night.
Starter Michael Kopech recorded five of those strikeouts, and he overcame four hits and two walks to keep the Cubs scoreless while pitching into the fifth inning with a 3-0 lead on a rainy and windy night on Chicago’s North Side.
Reynaldo Lopez (3-0), Jose Ruiz, Aaron Bummer, Matt Foster and Liam Hendricks then finished off the White Sox’s fourth straight victory at Wrigley Field, where they’ve taken eight of 10.
Though not earning the win, Kopech (1.17 ERA) is the third White Sox starter in the last four games to deliver a scoreless outing.
Anderson extended his hitting streak to five games with his solo shot in the third, and Jake Burger had two hits with an RBI for the White Sox, who have won back-to-back games for the first time since April 15-16.
The Cubs, meanwhile, stranded seven runners while losing for the 10th time in 13 games. They’ve totaled six runs over the last five games, and fanned 68 times in the last six.
After scheduled Cubs starter Drew Smyly was placed in the bereavement list, reliever Scott Effross (0-1) made his first career start and allowed two unearned runs over 1 1/3 innings.
Jose Abreu reached on third baseman Patrick Wisdom’s throwing error to open the second. He moved to third on Adam Engel’s double and scored on Burger’s infield single. Engel then came home on Reese McGuire’s safety squeeze bunt.
Anderson led off the third with an opposite-field drive into the right-field bleachers off Keegan Thompson.
After failing to score with runners on first and second in the third and the bases loaded in the fourth, the Cubs broke through in the sixth via Nico Hoerner’s RBI double down the left-field line off Ruiz.
Cubs catcher Willson Contreras missed a second straight game with what Marquee Sports Network reported as a thigh injury.
–Field Level Media
