CHICAGO (AP) Pete Crow-Armstrong homered and drove in a career-high six runs, helping the Chicago Cubs beat the Chicago White Sox 13-3 on Friday in the first meeting of the season between the crosstown rivals.
Seiya Suzuki had two hits and two RBIs for the NL Central-leading Cubs on a warm and windy afternoon at Wrigley Field. Nico Hoerner scored three times, and Cade Horton (2-0) pitched five innings of three-run ball in his first career start.
The Cubs earned their sixth consecutive win against the White Sox, matching a franchise record for the series.
Miguel Vargas went deep twice for the White Sox in his first career multihomer game. He also matched a career high with four hits.
Vargas connected for a two-run drive in the first and a solo drive in the third. But the Cubs went ahead to stay with six runs in the second against Shane Smith (1-3).
With one out and runners on second and third, Michael Busch used a nifty slide to score on Moisés Ballesteros’ chopper to first baseman Andrew Vaughn. Hoerner then hit a grounder to shortstop Chase Meidroth, who made a strong throw to the plate that was dropped by catcher Matt Thaiss for an error.
After Jon Berti struck out looking, Crow-Armstrong hit a three-run drive to right for his 12th homer. Suzuki tacked on an RBI double for a 6-2 lead.
Smith was charged with one earned run and seven hits in five innings. The rookie right-hander struck out five and walked one.
Crow-Armstrong also drove in Hoerner with a wind-aided single in the sixth, and then singled home two more runs in the seventh for a 10-3 lead.
Ballesteros hit an RBI single in the eighth for his first hit in his second major league game.
Smith has surrendered two homers in 48 1/3 innings in his first big league season. He allowed a three-run shot by Boston’s Rafael Devers on April 19.
White Sox right-hander Sean Burke (2-4, 4.15 ERA) and Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd (3-2, 2.78 ERA) take the mound on Saturday.
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| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C. Meidroth SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .260 |
| M. Thaiss C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .213 |
| L. Robert CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .181 |
| M. Vargas 3B | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | .242 |
| J. Palacios RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .208 |
| A. Vaughn 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .185 |
| E. Quero DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .293 |
| J. Rojas 2B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .188 |
| B. Baldwin LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .222 |
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P. Crow-Armstrong CF | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | .282 |
| K. Tucker RF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .267 |
| S. Suzuki LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .246 |
| M. Busch 1B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .255 |
| C. Kelly C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .299 |
| D. Swanson SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .246 |
| V. Brujan 3B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 |
| M. Ballesteros DH | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | .125 |
| N. Hoerner 2B | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | .278 |
| J. Berti 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .213 |
| a- N. Lopez PH-SS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .045 |
- a-struck out for Berti in the 7th
- 2B – M. Vargas (10)
- HR – M. Vargas 2 (5)
- RBI – M. Vargas 3 (19)
- 2-Out RBI – M. Vargas 3 (3)
- Runners left in scoring position, 2-Out – A. Vaughn, E. Quero
- 2B – S. Suzuki 2 (9), C. Kelly (3), N. Hoerner (9)
- 3B – K. Tucker (4)
- HR – P. Crow-Armstrong (12)
- SF – S. Suzuki (2), D. Swanson (2)
- RBI – P. Crow-Armstrong 6 (36), S. Suzuki 2 (37), D. Swanson (25), M. Ballesteros 2 (2), N. Hoerner (18)
- 2-Out RBI – P. Crow-Armstrong 5 (5), S. Suzuki
- Runners left in scoring position, 2-Out – S. Suzuki, M. Busch, C. Kelly, M. Ballesteros
- SB – C. Meidroth (4)
- SB – N. Hoerner (9)
- E – M. Thaiss 2 (5)
- DP – 2 (Hoerner-Swanson-Busch; Hoerner-Lopez-Busch)
| PITCHERS | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. Smith(L, 1-3) | 5.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2.05 |
| T. Gilbert | 0.1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.85 |
| B. Eisert | 0.1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 |
| M. Castro | 1.1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 13.50 |
| Y. Gomez | 1.0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7.63 |
| PITCHERS | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C. Horton(W, 2-0) | 5.0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6.00 |
| D. Palencia(H, 4) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.29 |
| C. Thielbar | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.93 |
| R. Pressly | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6.46 |
| J. Merryweather | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.76 |
- Pitches-Strikes – S. Smith 89-59, T. Gilbert 13-7, B. Eisert 8-5, M. Castro 24-14, Y. Gomez 26-16
- Ground Balls-Fly Balls – S. Smith 7-3, B. Eisert 0-2, M. Castro 2-0, Y. Gomez 2-1
- Batters Faced – S. Smith 25, T. Gilbert 2, B. Eisert 4, M. Castro 7, Y. Gomez 7
- Pitches-Strikes – C. Horton 79-52, D. Palencia 14-12, C. Thielbar 18-9, R. Pressly 14-10, J. Merryweather 9-6
- Ground Balls-Fly Balls – C. Horton 8-9, D. Palencia 1-3, C. Thielbar 1-2, R. Pressly 1-0, J. Merryweather 1-0
- Batters Faced – C. Horton 21, D. Palencia 4, C. Thielbar 4, R. Pressly 4, J. Merryweather 3