It was one of those days White Sox fans dream about when they’re shoveling out their parking spaces on an ice-cold December morning.
A 9-4 victory over the Cubs on a perfect afternoon before 38,526 at U.S. Cellular Field gave the Sox a 2-1 edge in the first round of the city series and had black-clad fans grinning all the way to the parking lots.
By the time they finally got on the Dan Ryan, they were treated to the news that the Sox had acquired Seattle Mariners’ ace Freddy Garcia, filling a hole in the rotation that could give them a leg up on Minnesota in the American League Central race.
“Coming back and winning two games against the Cubs, you’ve got a little momentum going,” Paul Konerko said. “And now Freddy will be throwing [Wednesday] in the Minnesota series.”
The Sox moved to within one game of the first-place Twins as they head to Minneapolis for the start of a three-game showdown Tuesday night, while the Cubs dropped five behind St. Louis in the National League Central with Houston coming to Wrigley Field on Tuesday night.
Sammy Sosa hit a pair of long-distance homers, his first since May 15, the day before his sneeze-related back injury put him out of action. But Cubs starter Greg Maddux (6-6) was hammered in a four-inning outing, yielding nine runs (seven earned) on 11 hits and two walks.
Esteban Loaiza (8-3) blew two early leads but scattered 10 hits over six innings to earn his fourth straight victory. Konerko, who drove in three runs Sunday, was a one-man wrecking crew against the Cubs this weekend with a pair of three-run home runs and nine RBIs.
“Somebody’s got to step up,” Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “He did. Without a bat like Magglio’s, everybody’s got to chip in and help us to win.”
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Let’s do it again
It’s back to reality for Chicago’s baseball teams, though the very near future looks brighter for the recharged White Sox than for the Cubs.
The immediate reality is the Cubs need to get re-energized before they play host to Houston and then the White Sox. And the Sox need to stay on the high resulting from two straight emotional victories in the city series.
So let’s look ahead to next weekend’s rematch:
The facts: Friday through Sunday at Wrigley Field.
The pitchers: Assuming just-acquired Freddy Garcia pitches for the Sox on Wednesday, these could be the matchups: Jon Garland vs. Carlos Zambrano, Esteban Loaiza vs. Greg Maddux again and Mark Buehrle vs. fellow lefty Glendon Rusch.
The lineups: What did we learn about the hitters from the just-completed series? Well, the Cubs should know you don’t put men on base in front of Paul Konerko and that Timo Perez absolutely loves it when Maddux pitches. The Cubs may have rediscovered Corey Patterson as a second-place hitter and might have Sammy Sosa back in the third spot now that his swing has been located in the lost-and-found.
North note: “Wind trends” shows the Cubs are 8-6 with the wind blowing in and 12-6 with it blowing out. But they haven’t played the Sox there yet with the wind blowing out. Those breezes would favor the homer-happy Sox.
No, no no: No Magglio Ordonez, no Kerry Wood, no Garcia.
Nighty night: Sunday’s game starts at 7 p.m., and be assured that security officials are very nervous. It will be the only night game among the six. Everyone is afraid of trouble by rowdy fans. If you want to blame someone, talk to ESPN, which changed the time so it could televise the game.
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