The White Sox stumbled out of the gate Friday.
But they also showed there was plenty of baseball remaining, storming back from a six-run deficit to beat the Cubs 17-13 in front of a sellout crowd of 37,892 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The Sox scored 13 straight runs and went on to take the opener of Round 2 of the City Series.
Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal, reinstated from the injured list earlier Friday, hit two three-run home runs and drove in eight, matching a career high and tying a team record.
“Today I wasn’t really thinking about the eight RBIs, I was just thinking about getting more runs up on the scoreboard because you never know what could happen,” Grandal said.
This game had a little bit of everything — home runs, clutch hits and poor fielding.
The Cubs set the tone early. Patrick Wisdom’s 448-foot, three-run homer gave them a 3-0 lead three batters into the game. They tacked on three more runs in the first.
Sox starter Dallas Keuchel exited after allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits with one strikeout and a walk in one-plus inning.
The Sox scored once in the bottom of the first but stranded the bases loaded. They made sure to capitalize in every situation during an eight-run third.
“That’s the team concept, right?” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “Starting pitchers pick us up when we are having trouble scoring. Once in a while, our starter has a rough outing and the offense picks him up. It’s the definition of team.”
Grandal tied the game at 6 with a three-run homer against reliever Adrian Sampson. The Sox took the lead when shortstop Andrew Romine dropped Luis Robert’s routine popup with two outs. Andrew Vaughn scored on the miscue.
Two batters later, Eloy Jiménez hit a two-run single, stretching the lead to 9-6.
The Sox scored four more in the fifth, with Grandal driving in two with a double.
José Abreu went 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs, giving him 99 on the season. Robert had three hits, three runs and and RBI, while Tim Anderson had two hits and scored three times.
Grandal hit his second three-run homer of the game in the eighth. He also had eight RBIs on May 7, 2015, against the Milwaukee Brewers while with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Evidently he’s been doing a lot of work,” La Russa said. “His swing was on time. He had huge huge production. It was really impressive. You don’t do that automatically. He’s been working. Our hats are off. Great to get him back and keep him healthy.”
Grandal is the first catcher in major-league history and 13th MLB player since 1920 to record at least two eight-plus-RBI games in his career, according to STATS.
“I felt good,” Grandal said. “This is pretty much just getting my stamina back, my feet underneath me on the catching side, when I’m running around. I felt pretty tired halfway through the game, after running around, blocking, moving behind the plate. But it just comes with the job.
“Thank God that I’m back and I have a month of games to be able to get my stamina up and be able to feel good by the time the playoffs come.”
Wisdom homered twice and had four RBIs for the Cubs.
“I mean, 30th birthday and hit two homers, that’s a pretty nice day and he’s rocking the ‘stashe,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “Maybe we all have to all as a group go with the ‘stashe if that’s the way it’s trending — I’m not afraid.”
Michael Hermosillo and Ian Happ also homered.
The game capsulated the direction both teams have been headed.
For the American League Central-leading Sox, it showed the how dangerous the offense could be when as close to full strength as they’ve been all season. They batted around in two innings.
For the Cubs, the game was reminiscent of their June 30 collapse against the Milwaukee Brewers, when they scored seven runs in the first, only to fall 15-7.
Cubs starter Keegan Thompson allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits with one strikeout and two walks in two-plus innings. Reynaldo López was terrific in relief for the Sox, striking out seven in five perfect innings.
“Right after I got the first two outs, I told myself, ‘OK, let’s do it tonight,’ I could feel the energy on the team and the confidence that we had,” López said through an interpreter.
López did his part and the offense started clicking as the Sox overcame their largest deficit since April 26, 2019 against the Detroit Tigers, when they rallied from a seven-run deficit for a 12-11 win.
“I said at the beginning of the year, in spring training, it takes the full 40-man roster in order to get through a season,” Grandal said. “And I feel like we’ve done a really good job at that.
“The guys who have been coming up have been stepping up and helping us win. And now that we have everybody back, it’s just a matter of getting accustomed to each other and accustomed to the lineup and the guys out on the field. And it’s only going to get better from here on out.”
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