The Chicago White Sox head to New York with some momentum after sweeping the Detroit Tigers at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The final two games were won in very different walk-off fashions. Saturday’s winning run scored on a wild pitch. Sunday’s game ended on a Jake Burger grand slam.
Behind Marcus Stroman’s 11th quality start and three home runs, the Cubs took control quickly in Sunday’s 7-1 win against the San Diego Padres.
This week will be one of those rare instances when both teams are out of town to start the week, with the Cubs still out west. The Sox return home for a weekend series against the Miami Marlins.
Every Monday throughout the season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead for the Cubs and Sox.
White Sox have options at 2B
When Elvis Andrus returned from the injured list Friday, it gave the Sox a full complement of infielders for the first time in a while.
It also brought up the question of how the Sox would handle playing time at second base.
The team re-signed Andrus in the spring, moving him from shortstop to second. With more playing time recently due to Andrus’ injury, Romy Gonzalez has produced offensively while displaying strong defense.
“That’s good, that’s baseball,” Andrus said Saturday. “I told him, ‘Don’t feel bad, man. I did the same thing when I was younger.’ I want all my teammates, even if we play the same position, to do the best. At the end, it’s all about winning.
“Now me and him are going to share playing time. If it’s for the best of the team, that’s what it’s all about. But very happy for all he’s been doing. He’s been working really hard for this opportunity and he’s taking advantage.”
Gonzalez has a .282 average (11-for-39) with three doubles, one triple, three homers and 10 RBIs in his last 14 games.
“Crazy talent, really powerful,” Andrus said.
Andrus is looking to get going at the plate, hitting .194 with one homer and 13 RBIs in 41 games.
Gonzalez started at second Friday and Andrus was there Saturday. They were both in the infield Sunday with Gonzalez at second and Andrus at third as Yoán Moncada got a day of rest.
“We’re here to do one thing (and) that’s win baseball games,” manager Pedro Grifol said Saturday. “So there’s always competition. Even with guys that are everyday players, there’s always competition.
“There comes a time when somebody’s coming up and you have to continue to perform. In this case, I spoke to Elvis (on Friday) and I told him the same thing he told you: Romy is playing well, he’s back now and we’ll mix and match and put the best team on the field.”
Alzolay-Leiter becoming an effective tandem for Cubs
It hasn’t mattered much this year that left-handed hitters know what pitch to expect from Cubs right-hander Mark Leiter Jr.
When Leiter utilizes his splitter against lefties, it’s nearly unhittable. Left-handed hitters are 5-for-37 with 23 strikeouts versus his splitter this season. Leiter struck out the side in the ninth to earn the save in Friday’s 2-1 win over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. He got lefties Juan Soto and Jake Cronenworth to whiff at his splitter to end their at-bats.
“I’m not really worried about what they’re trying to do,” Leiter said. “I’m just trying to execute from my standpoint and one pitch at a time really.”
Leiter and Adbert Alzolay have given manager David Ross some stability in the back end of a bullpen that has searched for consistency through the first two months.
Leiter, 32, credits the high-leverage opportunities he received in the second half of 2022, including six save opportunities, with preparing him for his current usage. He acknowledged that moments like the ninth inning are “definitely different” than pitching in other situations. But he has quickly become one of Ross’ go-to arms with a lead in the late innings.
“It’s a team game and we’re all called upon in different situations, in different types of games, and you’ve got to be able to win all kinds of games,” Leiter said. “Just do your job.
“The more you can control it and just say I’m going out there and my name is called and I’m pitching, it doesn’t matter the score, it doesn’t matter the ending. Your job is to go get outs.”
Number of the week: 2
Sunday’s win completed the Sox’s second sweep of the season. The other came against the Kansas City Royals on May 19-21. The Sox are 15-11 against American League Central teams this season but won’t see another one until July 21 in Minnesota.
Week ahead: Cubs
Justin Steele’s move to the 15-day injured list Saturday sets up right-hander Hayden Wesneski to start Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels while Steele is sidelined with a left forearm strain that will cause him to miss his next two starts. Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy anticipates Steele will throw two bullpens before coming off the IL, which the Cubs don’t expect to be an extended stay.
Wesneski is positioned to slot in on Steele’s start day after he served in long relief when Steele exited Wednesday’s start against the Tampa Bay Rays.
“It’s not easy when no matter what it looks like of having to come in the game and get hot quick and do all that on the mound — you don’t get to do your routine, you don’t get to do the things that make you really good,” Hottovy said Saturday. “So one, being able to handle that in the moment sometimes shows a young guy that you don’t need to do all the things that you have to do.
“And we’ve talked about him as a starter before, having this routine: How can we pare things down? So it’s refreshing for him to have the outing he did in short notice, not quite having the same ramp-up, warmup that he’s had and just see him be aggressive against arguably one of the best offenses in baseball and trust your stuff.”
- Monday: at Padres, 8:10 p.m., Marquee
- Tuesday: at Angels, 8:38 p.m., Marquee
- Wednesday: at Angels, 8:38 p.m., Marquee
- Thursday: at Angels, 8:38 p.m., Marquee
- Friday: at Giants, 9:15 p.m., Marquee
- Saturday: at Giants, 6:35 p.m., Fox-32
- Sunday: at Giants, 3:05 p.m., Marquee
Week ahead: White Sox
Saturday was one for the record books, as the Sox beat the Tigers 2-1 in 10 innings with all three runs coming via wild pitches.
According to Elias, it was the first major-league game since at least 1920 in which all of the runs (minimum three) scored on a wild pitch or passed ball.
“You think about (Saturday’s) game, all three runs were scored via the wild pitch, but there was a lot of other little things that helped us win,” Grifol said Sunday. “They had the five-man infield (with Yasmani Grandal up in the 10th and Moncada on third). Normally we like (running on) contact. We didn’t go contact. There was a ground ball to the infield, Moncada stayed at third base, kept (scoring on) the wild pitch in play.
“I had told (third-base coach) Eddie (Rodríguez) to tell Moncada to read the high hopper, and he read that ground ball perfectly. He stayed right there, which allowed us to be able to score on that wild pitch.”
The Sox know they’ll need to find more ways of scoring this week when they visit the New York Yankees.
More power, like the type displayed on Burger’s game-ending grand slam Sunday, will be needed against the Yankees, who are second in the AL with 95 homers. Aaron Judge, who leads the AL with 19 home runs, was out of the lineup Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers after banging his right big toe while making a spectacular catch Saturday.
The Sox are tied for 10th in the AL with 61 homers.
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: at Yankees, 6:05 p.m., NBCSCH
- Wednesday: at Yankees, 6:05 p.m., NBCSCH
- Thursday: at Yankees, 6:05 p.m., NBCSCH
- Friday: vs. Marlins, 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Saturday: vs. Marlins, 1:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Sunday: vs. Marlins, 1:10 p.m., NBCSCH
What we’re reading this morning
This week in Chicago baseball
June 5, 1935: White Sox rookie John Whitehead loses to St. Louis 2-0.
It was his first loss after winning his first eight starts, an AL record for the start of a career. The righty went on to amass a 49-54 record in his seven-year MLB career.
June 5, 1989: White Sox draft Frank Thomas with the No. 7 pick.
The 21-year-old Columbus, Ga., native was a three-time All-Southeastern Conference selection at Auburn and led the conference in 1989 with 19 homers, 83 RBIs and a .575 on-base percentage.
The 6-foot-5, 240-pound junior said the hardest part of his career thus far was telling Auburn football coach Pat Dye he was quitting after his freshman year. Thomas originally went to college on a football scholarship and played alongside Bo Jackson as a tight end in 1986.
Thomas wanted to start out at Double A like the Sox’s 1988 first-round pick, Robin Ventura. Why?
“Because I have enough experience,” he said matter-of-factly. “I was hoping Chicago got me. They’re not doing well at first base and they’re not doing well as a team. I’m excited about that.”
He was drafted right after the Cardinals selected Paul Coleman and right before the Cubs took Earl Cunningham, neither of whom ever appeared in the big leagues. Also taken before Thomas was Jeff Jackson of Simeon, who never played in the majors for the Phillies.
Thomas, a 2-time MVP, became the 10th Sox player to have his number retired. He led the AL in on-base percentage four times and finished in the top four in four other seasons. Thomas hit .300 or better with at least 20 homers, 100 RBIs, 100 walks and 100 runs in seven consecutive seasons.
June 5, 2013: White Sox and Mariners play the first game in MLB history in which each team scores five or more runs after it was scoreless through the ninth.
Alejandro De Aza and Alex Rios each had an RBI single in the 16th, and the Sox won 7-5.
“We’re all too exhausted probably right now to really relish it,” said Gordon Beckham, who collected four hits after the eighth, including a single that started the two-run 16th.
June 7, 1906: Cubs score 11 runs in the first off New York Giants aces Christy Mathewson and Joe McGinnity and go on to a 19-0 victory.
June 7, 1946: Cubs pitcher Claude Passeau wins his own game with a two-run, game-ending homer in the ninth against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Quotable
“The Angels were top stuff, clapping for him. We were as well. The fans were unbelievable, the entrance was special. It was just a special time.” — Grifol on the reception for Liam Hendriks during his return Monday at Guaranteed Rate Field
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