Cubs snap – A revitalized Cubs offense powered a 10-5 win over the White Sox in the opener of their three-game South Side series, with Pete Crow-Armstrong delivering a key seventh-inning RBI single during a seventh-inning roar of “P-C-A!”
CHICAGO — The seventh inning sounded like home even with the Crosstown Classic moved to the South Side.
When Pete Crow-Armstrong stepped to the plate. North Side fans leaned into a loud. repeated “P-C-A!” chant that repeatedly cut through the boos coming from White Sox supporters.. Crow-Armstrong took Bryan Hudson. a left-hander. for an RBI single that sent a Cubs lead widening as the game shifted decisively.
The Cubs carried that offensive spark to a 10-5 win in the first matchup of a three-game set, snapping an extended stretch in which runs had been harder to come by.
The surge came after the Cubs totaled just five runs in their previous five games on the road against the Rangers and Braves.. It also followed a high point from earlier in the season: a 25-game stretch in which the North Siders scored an average of 6.2 runs per game and won 21 times to seize first place in the National League Central.
In Friday night’s opener, Moisés Ballesteros ended an 0-for-26 slump with a single in the fourth, setting up an RBI single from Carson Kelly. Kelly then drove in four in the win.
Seiya Suzuki also broke out after prolonged droughts. ending an 0-for-17 stretch with an RBI double in the fifth that chased White Sox starter Sean Burke from the game.. Dansby Swanson followed suit offensively. ending an 0-for-18 skid with a leadoff double in the eighth and later scoring via a wild pitch.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell pointed to the overall feel of the night, saying it was “a really good offensive game all around.” He added: “We made it hard every at-bat, it felt like. We made it hard on them. A bunch of hits. Walks. The baserunning was really good. It was a very good offensive night.”
The numbers backed that up: the Cubs finished with 14 hits in the win, after collecting 19 total hits across their previous five games. Every one of the nine players in the Cubs’ starting lineup recorded at least one hit, and 10 players reached base at least once.
The Cubs have now enjoyed a game with at least 10 runs and 14 hits against the White Sox eight times, but this marked the first such performance on the South Side since a 12-5 win on May 8, 2014.
Crow-Armstrong framed the result as part of what makes the rivalry different, saying, “It’s just a cool little rivalry.. I love seeing the Cubs fans in there and staying to the last out.. It’s a blast.. I love it.” He also said the start of the game mattered: “I think the nice part was the first-inning run.. Just getting the game started like that is always great.”
Ian Happ added an RBI single in the first, and Michael Busch provided an RBI double in the fifth. The Cubs’ offense did the heavy lifting despite a shaky outing from Cubs righty Edward Cabrera, who allowed three runs with three walks and two strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.
For the White Sox, Miguel Vargas opened the scoring swing with a leadoff homer in the sixth off Cubs lefty Ryan Rolison, pulling the game into a 4-4 deadlock. After the South Siders loaded up more runners, Cubs righty Trent Thornton came in and escaped the jam, giving the Cubs a chance to reset.
That reset led to another surge.. After singles from Alex Bregman and Suzuki. the Cubs loaded the bases with two outs against Bryan Hudson when the reliever hit Matt Shaw with a pitch.. Carson Kelly followed with an infield single up the third-base line that was ruled fair as Vargas couldn’t corral it cleanly.. Crow-Armstrong then delivered the run-scoring hit that pushed the lead to 6-4.
Then came the eighth inning break. Following Swanson’s double, White Sox righty Jordan Hicks struggled with command, issuing four walks, including one to Shaw with the bases loaded. Kelly responded with a two-run ground-rule double to expand the advantage.
Counsell described Thornton’s work as a critical hinge point, saying, “That was a huge effort. It’s not the ninth inning, so it doesn’t seem like a save. But it’s a save.”
Even with all the on-field swings, the mood off the field stayed tethered to the rivalry itself. Counsell called it “a fans’ series,” pointing out how family and friends often pull in different directions during the Crosstown matchup.
Through the whole night, the pattern was hard to miss: after the Cubs’ road scoring drought and their hitters’ long streaks without key hits, multiple players broke out in the middle innings, then the offense kept pushing—first to build a lead, and later to stretch it with a four-run eighth.
Cubs White Sox Crosstown Classic Pete Crow-Armstrong Moisés Ballesteros Carson Kelly Seiya Suzuki Dansby Swanson Jordan Hicks Trent Thornton Chicago rivalry