First pitch, last pitch
Luis Castillo’s opening delivery on Monday night went down the right-field line and out of Wrigley Field. Nine and a half innings later, Hagen Smith’s 2-1 slider landed in the right-field patio area. Same hitter both times. Pete Crow-Armstrong bookended a 7-5 Chicago Cubs win over the White Sox with a leadoff home run and the first walk-off homer of his career.
That combination is rare enough to carry a date. No player had hit a leadoff home run and a walk-off home run in the same game since Chris Young did it for Arizona on 7 August 2010. Crow-Armstrong finished 4 for 5 with a walk.
It was his fifth leadoff shot of the season and his 30th home run overall, one short of the career high he set last year. Set against 31 stolen bases, it also confirmed back-to-back 30-30 seasons for the Cubs centre fielder.
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How the Cubs got back into it
Seiya Suzuki followed the opener with a drive to deep left-centre four pitches later, and that early 2-0 lead lasted until the fourth, when Randal Grichuk’s three-run homer, his 10th, put the White Sox in front 3-2.
Shota Imanaga struck out 10 across six innings, one off his season high, and gave up three runs on two hits. The bullpen gave part of it back. Pinch-hitter Andrew Benintendi turned Ryan Zeferjahn’s first offering into the right-field basket in the eighth for a two-run homer and a 5-4 lead.
Nico Hoerner tied the game with an RBI single in the ninth. Jacob Webb then stranded the bases loaded in the top of the 10th, which is the piece of the night that made the ending possible. Crow-Armstrong came up and drove in automatic runner Carson Kelly with the swing that followed.
What it changes
The Cubs snapped a two-game slide and ended a White Sox run of three straight. The South Siders had won six of their previous eight and took two of three from the Cubs on their own field earlier this season, so the Crosstown ledger reads closer than the standings do.
Kevin Gausman (6-11, 4.53 ERA) starts for the Cubs on Tuesday. The White Sox had not named a starter.
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