After playing like the baseball equivalent of spam the first two games of the City Series, the Cubs managed to salvage the finale 4-3 over the White Sox, riding Mark Prior’s complete-game performance.
“This is what your big guy does,” Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. “We needed this game very badly.”
With Baker’s backing and a sun-baked crowd of 39,334 hanging on every pitch, Prior struck out Jermaine Dye with a nasty slider, ending the game with a fist pump and a sigh of relief.
“It was fun to be out there on a Sunday afternoon playing baseball,” Prior said.
Jason Dubois’ three-run, opposite-field home run off Luis Vizcaino in the sixth turned out to be the decisive blow, spoiling an eye-opening debut by Sox rookie Brandon McCarthy, who was removed after 51 1/43 innings with a man on first and a 2-1 lead.
Sox manager Ozzie Guillen got perturbed when he was questioned about removing McCarthy after 78 pitches.
“Don’t second-guess me,” Guillen barked. “When you come here every day and see how we handle stuff with the pitching staff. … Here’s what we do. I always give my pitcher the best opportunity to win the game. This kid came from the minor leagues and gave us the best chance to win the game.
“Second-guess me, after the [bleep] happens? … Aramis Ramirez hit two good balls against the kid. I want this kid to leave the mound there with his head up.”
McCarthy struck out six and allowed two runs on four hits in his first start. Henry Blanco’s second-inning homer was McCarthy’s his only blemish before he hit hitting Derrek Lee to open the sixth. One out later, Guillen called on Vizcaino, who gave up a single to Corey Patterson before Dubois’ big blow.
