Four-HR outburst carries Cubs through 'wacky' night vs. White Sox

CHICAGO -- No matter what point in the season it is, or where they are in the standings, the Cubs and White Sox Crosstown Classic matchups always bring a unique atmosphere.

Take Friday night at Guaranteed Rate Field, for example.

“I feel like these games are always a little wacky against the White Sox,” starter Jameson Taillon said after the Cubs’ 7-6 win on the South Side, in which they led 7-0 after three innings but had to hold off a White Sox rally in the ninth inning.

The Cubs recorded 16 hits, one shy of tying their season high of 17, which was set on July 31 against the Reds. And it started with a big-time showing against White Sox All-Star starter Garrett Crochet.

The White Sox have taken a conservative approach with Crochet’s workload of late, as the lefty goes through his first season as a Major League starter and continues to set a new career high for innings pitched.

That workload and Crochet’s potentially limited pitch count was a topic of conversation before Friday’s game as manager Craig Counsell met the media.

“If [his] last four starts hold true, we're gonna have 75-ish pitches, which is roughly two times through the order,” Counsell said. “Our job is to get him those two times through the order.”

The Cubs tagged Crochet for seven runs on nine hits, including four homers, in the lefty’s 2 1/3 innings of work (67 pitches). It started with Ian Happ, who crushed a leadoff homer. After Seiya Suzuki reached on a single, Cody Bellinger followed with a two-run blast to right-center field.

Bellinger returned to the starting lineup on Friday after sitting out Wednesday’s win over the Twins due to left hamstring soreness. His homer on Friday was the first Crochet has surrendered to a lefty in his career.

Lefties entered Friday hitting .197 with a .495 OPS against Crochet this season. Bellinger, who finished 3-for-4, had a pair of hits against him. Pete Crow-Armstrong tripled off Crochet as part of his 3-for-4 night.

“I knew it was a tough at-bat [going in],” Bellinger said of facing Crochet. “I didn’t know the exact numbers. Just kept it simple and really just put my swing on it.”

Crochet surrendered two more homers, when Isaac Paredes and Nico Hoerner went back to back in the third inning. Happ, Bellinger and Hoerner’s homers all came off Crochet’s cutter -- which opponents had hit just .211 against entering the day with a .303 slugging percentage.

“We did a really good job on that pitch,” Counsell said postgame. “[Crochet has] got an electric fastball, and we did a nice job with the offspeed in the zone.”

Crow-Armstrong’s triple in the second inning also came against Crochet’s cutter. The Cubs' center fielder hit a sharp line drive to right field, just out of the reach of right fielder Dominic Fletcher’s diving attempt. Crow-Armstrong went from home to third base in 10.98 seconds, per Statcast, his fastest on six triples this season.

Crow-Armstrong said he was “just trying to do what Cody did.”

“I've seen Cody have success against a lot of guys and a lot of left-handed pitchers,” Crow-Armstrong added. “So that's not surprising to me that he had the day he had. Cody's a great guy to watch, but it never hurts when Ian Happ leads off the game with a homer and sets the tone like that. So I'm sure that freed up everybody else.”

The Cubs were held scoreless over the final six innings, and the White Sox chipped away, starting with a four-run fourth inning against Taillon. Héctor Neris entered in the ninth inning and surrendered a leadoff single to Fletcher and a bunt single to Brooks Baldwin.

Neris got Nicky Lopez and Luis Robert Jr. to fly out. He walked Andrew Benintendi to load the bases and then got Andrew Vaughn to fly out to end the game.

“After the third out, feeling good,” Neris said with a smile when asked of the atmosphere in that spot.

The Cubs have won seven of their past nine games. During that stretch, their offense has averaged 6.22 runs per game, with contributions up and down the order.

“For us to come out ready to swing it, that was awesome,” Taillon said. “We’re definitely playing better. It feels like our lineup is deep right now, and guys are passing the baton to the next guy and having tough at-bats.”