Morning Marquee: Chicago Cubs hand Chris Sale his fourth loss

After dropping the first two games of the Crosstown Classic on the South Side, the Chicago Cubs stormed back with two huge wins over the White Sox to even up the series. But the Cup, however, will stay with Robin Ventura‘s bunch.

Thousands of Chicago Cubs and White Sox fans filled Wrigley Field as both teams squared off for the final time this season as Chris Sale took on veteran right-hander John Lackey. Sale just returned from a five-game suspension following a clubhouse incident that began over a uniform.

Some thought Chris was not going to make the start with former Cubs pitcher Jacob Turner penciled in as a starter at Wrigley Field but plans changed. At first, skipper Joe Maddon was unsure how he was going to approach the White Sox.

But now that it’s all said and done, the Crosstown Cup will stay with the White Sox. Each team swept two games on their home turf but last night’s Chicago Cubs victory felt great.

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Third baseman and second-time All-Star Kris Bryant nearly took Sale deep in his first at-bat just like he did during the All-Star game in San Diego. Kris gave the National League an early 1-0 lead on a pitch that he absolutely mashed out to left field — this time he sent a towering fly ball out to center.

It just didn’t clear the ivy. Instead, it bounced off the brick wall. This lineup was making Chris work throughout the game while Lackey did just enough to keep the White Sox from making things difficult.

Lackey has had a rough month and he seemed pretty happy following the game after handing Sale his fourth loss of the season. What can you expect? He just defeated the best pitcher in the American League. Addison Russell added a bit of insurance by grounding out to shortstop, allowing Ben Zobrist to race home.

He also had a grand slam the night before which made it 8-1 in favor of the North Siders.

Next: Cubs carve out win against White Sox

Zobrist lined a pitch over the head of first baseman Jose Abreu who was charged with an error on the play when he made a leaping attempt to catch the ball. Instead, it had enough power behind it to bounce off the top of his glove,  hit the wall and roll back away from the right fielder.

An exciting game that resulted in Aroldis Chapman picking up a four-out save – his first as a member of the Chicago Cubs who improved to 61-40. They are still on pace to win 100 games this season but it’s not going to be easy with the Seattle Mariners in town followed by Giancarlo Stanton, Jose Fernandez, and the Miami Marlins.