Baseball takes center stage in Chicago, and Cubs, White Sox put on a show – Chicago Tribune
With eight games over four days at Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellular Field this weekend, Chicago was treated to a baseball smorgasbord.
And for good measure, we also got a taste of all four seasons, with a winter chill on Thursday night, summer breezes on Friday, a cool fall day on Saturday and a gorgeous spring afternoon for Mother’s Day on Sunday.
Everything fell into place for the first-place Cubs, who swept the Nationals for their seventh straight, and ditto for the first-place White Sox, who swept the Twins.
Unbeaten starters Chris Sale and Jake Arrieta put their winning streaks on the line, with Sale improving to 7-0 and Arrieta getting a no-decision to keep his 17-game winning streak intact.
Dusty Baker was greeted at Wrigley with a ceremonial booing on Thursday, while Red Sox star David Ortiz received a nice ovation before his final game at the Cell.
And a series of fortunate events left the impression that maybe this could be one of those years where everything goes right for the Sox and the Cubs.
It started when Anthony Rizzo’s home run Friday barely touched Ryne Sandberg’s flag on the right-field foul pole and was called fair.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever seen a ball hit the flag,” Baker said. “That’s when you’re going good, when you’re hitting flags.”
But it didn’t stop there. On Saturday, Ryan Kalish‘s two-run, pinch-hit blooper landed just over the infield, and Addison Russell’s fly to right was dropped by Bryce Harper at the foul line. On the South Side, a bases-loaded swinging bunt by Brett Lawrie bounced off the third base bag for an RBI single on Saturday, and a passed ball on an Avisail Garcia strikeout led to an insurance run Sunday in an inning starter Tyler Duffey struck out four hitters.
The Sox are 19-0 with a lead from the seventh inning on, capitalizing on the strength of their rotation, a shutdown bullpen and a vastly improved defense.
They discovered this weekend Dioner Navarro can be an every-day catcher. The found out in April that Adam Eaton is much better in right than in center, and Eaton and Austin Jackson turned the outfield defense from a weakness to a strength.
The Sox could still use a left-handed designated hitter and another starter, and they’re looking for both. They scouted Tim Lincecum‘s workout on Thursday, but whether they’d cough up the money is debatable, and most expect Lincecum to stay on the West Coast.
So Miguel Gonzalez will get another chance to win the spot vacated by John Danks, though it may be a revolving door until top prospect Carson Fulmer (4.99 ERA at Double-A Birmingham) is ready.
No worries. Jose Quintana improved to 5-1 on Sunday and could join Sale at the All-Star Game in San Diego if he continues at this pace. Sox fans have known Quintana’s worth for years, but now he’s finally getting some national recognition.
“It’s too early to talk about the All-Star Game for me,” Quintana said. “I’m just focusing on wins. We’ve started good and that’s what’s important.”
The Cubs haven’t had as much late-inning dramatics as the White Sox, mostly because their starters have been so reliable they’ve rarely fallen behind by more than a couple of runs.
“Very little have we had to come back this year,” Rizzo said. “They’ve really let us just go hit, and we let them go pitch.”
But after coming back to tie the game in the seventh on Sunday, they won in the 13th on Javier Baez’s walk-off home run.
Cubs problems. First-world problems. Is there any difference?
The Cubs are so deep they’ve been able to maintain through injuries and a lack of offense from new right fielder Jason Heyward. Kris Bryant has been playing more outfield, making it more difficult for him to develop at his preferred position, third.
But Baez has played Gold Glove-caliber defense at third, and Tommy La Stella keeps hitting, providing manager Joe Maddon with a dilemma most teams would love to have.
For once, there’s really nothing to fret about on the North or South Side this spring.
Imagine that.
psullivan@tribpub.com
Twitter @PWSullivan
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