Chicago Cubs charge back but fall 5-4 on the South Side

On the day the Chicago Cubs acquired Aroldis Chapman from the New York Yankees, their bullpen allowed a late rally go to waste as the Chicago White Sox claimed game one of the Crosstown Classic.

This year’s match-up felt like it’s a preview of the World Series. A sold out crowd packed U.S. Cellular Field on the South Side of Chicago as the Crosstown Classic kicked off starting with Jake Arrieta and Miguel Gonzalez.

Two former teammates who found themselves landing with Chicago clubs after making their big league debuts with the Baltimore Orioles. Tonight, it was Gonzalez who topped the Cubs (59-39) ace right-hander and received some run support.

Arrieta, on the other hand, almost had himself a one-run lead during the top of the first inning until Melky Cabrera made a leaping grab in left field, robbing Kris Bryant of a home run.

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Jake started off the second half with a solid outing only to slip up against the White Sox (49-50) on their home turf. The Sox tagged Arrieta (12-4, 2.76 ERA) for four earned runs on five hits while drawing two walks and striking out six times before he was removed after six innings of work.

Former Cincinnati Reds slugger Todd Frazier hammered a monster three-run homer out to straight away center field during the home half of the sixth inning, extending Chicago’s lead to 4-0 with the Cubbies struggling.

The Cubs left multiple runners in scoring position with an opportunity to tie things up at one apiece in the fourth inning when Addison Russell grounded out to Tyler Saladino for the third and final out of the frame.

Just two innings later, Willson Contreras reached first base safely with an infield single and moved to third on Jason Heyward‘s 16th double of the year. Russell had another shot at redemption but was called out on strikes.

Infielder Javier Baez finally got the Cubs on the board with a two-run homer in the seventh inning, cutting into’s the Sox’s lead. It was only a matter of time until this lineup put together another late-inning rally like they did yesterday in Milwaukee.

Baez started the ninth with a double out to right field and thought about turning it into a three-bagger before slamming on the brakes. Javier later came around to score on Dexter Fowler‘s RBI single with only one out.

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First baseman Anthony Rizzo, who struggled throughout the night, finally caught a break when he slapped a pitch out to left field, knocking in the game-tying run from third and still only one out in the frame.

They were unable to plate another run despite Contreras coming through with his second single of the evening. And then recently acquired Mike Montgomery entered the ninth and gave up a lead-off single to J.B. Shuck.

Shuck came around to score on a walk-off single by second baseman Tyler Saladino, sending South Side fans into a frenzy.