The White Sox entered Friday eager to redeem themselves against their crosstown rivals after being swept in their first meeting at Wrigley Field. But this is not the same White Sox team the Cubs faced in the first half of the season.
Riding the momentum from their 5-1 road trip, the White Sox picked up right where they left off. Chase Meidroth set the tone by homering on the second pitch of the game against Shota Imanaga.
“There was a lot of buildup for that game with the crosstown rivalry. We were fired up for this weekend,” Meidroth told reporters after the game. “It was awesome.”
The White Sox offense made Imanaga look like a slow-pitch softball pitcher, lighting him up for seven runs on 12 hits and knocking him out of the game after just three innings. The onslaught included Colson Montgomery’s third home run in as many games—a 108 mph rocket off a fastball that caught too much of the plate.
Austin Slater added to the home run barrage with a leadoff shot in the fourth inning, followed by a double from Edgar Quero that prompted Cubs manager Craig Counsell to pull his struggling ace. Quero was a force at the plate, finishing 4-for-5 with an RBI, one of four hits in a standout performance. He now joins fellow rookies Colson Montgomery and Kyle Teel as White Sox players to notch four-hit games this week.
Every White Sox starter recorded at least one hit, with four others joining Quero in the multi-hit column, highlighting a dominant offensive display.
The White Sox’s 18-hit outburst marked a season high, with eight of those hits leaving the bat at over 100 mph. Among them was a 108 mph blast from Mike Tauchman, who launched ex-White Sox right-hander Chris Flexen’s fastball 382 feet into right field.
Tauchman, who played for the Cubs last season, became the first former Cub to homer off a former White Sox pitcher in the history of the Crosstown Cup.
The offensive explosion overshadowed a solid effort from Adrian Houser, who may have made his last start in a White Sox uniform with the trade deadline less than a week away. Houser had his wife and kids in attendance, who watched him toss 6.2 innings with three strikeouts to earn his sixth victory of the season. His only blemish on the day was a three-run homer in the seventh inning to another former White Sox, Reese McGuire.
The offensive explosion overshadowed a strong outing from Adrian Houser, who may have made his final start in a White Sox uniform with the trade deadline less than a week away. With his wife and kids in attendance, Houser delivered 6.2 innings of work, allowing just one mistake—a three-run homer in the seventh to former White Sox catcher Reese McGuire. He struck out three and earned his sixth win of the season.
The win evened the all-time series with the Cubs at 75-75 and snapped an eight-game losing streak against the North Siders.
