One moment the Cubs were ahead. The next, it was the White Sox.
There was no way nine innings would be enough to decide Monday’s City Series game at Wrigley Field.
Cubs shortstop Nico Hoerner sent the game to extra innings with an RBI single in the ninth. And Pete Crow-Armstrong won it in the 10th with a walk-off, two-run home run, giving the Cubs a 7-5 victory in front of an electric crowd of 40,354 with fans representing both squads.
“It was a great baseball game,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “A lot of back and forth, some huge hits on both sides, big home runs on both sides.
“There was great energy in the stadium, fun game, and obviously a good one to come out on the right side of.”
Here’s a breakdown of the momentum-shifting sequences throughout the evening.
The Cubs didn’t waste any time
Crow-Armstrong hammered Luis Castillo’s first pitch of the night for a home run to right field.
Four pitches later, Seiya Suzuki homered. Just like that, the Cubs had a 2-0 lead.
“Those first two batters, the first two homers, I just missed my spot and that’s what happens when you do that, right?” Castillo said through an interpreter. “After that, I think the catcher (Jake Rogers) and myself were on the same page, and from that moment on the outing was much, much better.”
Castillo allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits with one strikeout and one walk in 4 2/3 innings.
Randal Grichuk hurt the Cubs, again
Cubs starter Shota Imanaga allowed three runs on two hits with 10 strikeouts and three walks in six innings.
Imanaga’s 15 whiffs with his splitter Monday tied his career high, which he had done twice, both in 2024. The Sox swung at 19 of his splitters, resulting in the 15 whiffs (79%). He also got three called strikes on the pitch and recorded eight of his 10 strikeouts with a splitter.
However, Imanaga’s lone blemish came off his splitter. A Munetaka Murakami walk and Miguel Vargas’ single to open the fourth put Imanaga in a tough spot. Randal Grichuk has crushed the Cubs over the course of his 13-year career, entering the game with a .309/.343/.608 slash line and 11 home runs, five at Wrigley.
And he did it again Monday, homering on a 1-2 splitter to give the Sox a 3-2 lead.
The Cubs took advantage of a miscue
The Cubs had runners on the corners with two outs in the fifth when Hoerner hit a slow roller to third. Vargas fielded the ball cleanly, but his throw to first was off the mark.
Suzuki scored from third on the infield hit. And Ian Happ raced around from first to score on the throwing error, giving the Cubs a 4-3 lead.
“Definitely that was a mistake by me,” Vargas said. “It was the tying run at third base and I tried to make the play. I rushed it a little bit and made a bad throw, but it’s part of the game. We took the lead back.”
Andrew Benintendi delivers in a pinch
The Sox took the lead back in the eighth.
Murakami drew a leadoff walk. Vargas struck out, and the Sox called on the left-handed-hitting Andrew Benintendi to hit for Grichuk against right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn.
Benintendi lined a first-pitch fastball just over the right-center-field wall to give the Sox a 5-4 lead.
“It was special,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “We didn’t have a ton of hits tonight (four), but the guys made them count. Obviously a big swing by (Grichuk) behind Vargas and (Murakami) there (in the fourth), and then (Benintendi) coming off the bench doing what he does. It was awesome.”
The Cubs threatened in the bottom of the seventh, placing runners on the corners with one out. Reliever Trevor Richards struck out Pedro Ramírez. With Kevin Alcántara batting, Hoerner took off for second base. Rogers pump-faked and then threw to third, where he caught Alex Bregman on his way back to the bag for the final out.
“We’re not throwing through there and really good pump-fake by him,” Venable said. “And that’s the play. If you pump-fake and you catch him stepping off a little too far, you go ahead and fire to third.”
Heading to extras
The Sox were two outs from securing the win when Bregman and Happ drew back-to-back walks. A close pitch on a 3-2 count to Happ was called a ball. The Sox were out of challenges.
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Hoerner then singled to center, scoring pinch runner Tyrone Taylor to tie the game at 5.
The Cubs loaded the bases with one out in the ninth. But Jordan Hicks got a strikeout and a forceout, sending the game to extra innings.
Walking it off
Braden Montgomery challenged what would have been a called third strike and got it reversed, leading to a 3-2 count. The Sox right fielder walked on the next pitch, loading the bases with two outs in the 10th, but Tristan Peters grounded out to first to end the threat.
Crow-Armstrong led off the bottom of the 10th, and the Sox elected to pitch to him.
“You think about all the options,” Venable said. “But that’s not one we’re going to make there.”
Crow-Armstrong got ahead 2-1 in the count against lefty Hagen Smith and lined a slider over the right-field wall for the walk-off home run.
“Just kind of hung a slider and he hit it,” Smith said. “Just one of those things. I fell behind in the count and put myself in a bad position.”
Crow-Armstrong tossed his bat high in the air, circled the bases and celebrated with his teammates.
“This is just really good for the city,” Crow-Armstrong said, “when you’ve got a second-place team in us (and) a first-place team in them — and the first time they’ve been really competitive in a while — and it’s just really freaking cool that we get to put that product out in the field together and go compete
“It’s really good for the city having both of us playing the kind of baseball we are and putting games out there like we did tonight.”