Sox win intense Crosstown opener at Wrigley

CHICAGO -- The White Sox competed in an October-esque atmosphere on Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Even though it was against a Cubs team that has almost no chance to make the postseason, there were twists and turns reminiscent of the playoffs.

Such is the nature of this storied crosstown rivalry, with Round 1 going to the White Sox via an 8-6 victory in 10 innings.

This series opener -- played before 39,539 fans -- felt almost as if it had two or three games compacted into one. Behind one earned run allowed over six-plus innings from Lance Lynn and Cesar Hernandez’s first White Sox home run, the South Siders carried a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth.

Then things turned downright bizarre.

Craig Kimbrel returned to Wrigley with the job of protecting that three-run lead, and the return was not a positive one … at least not in the moment for his White Sox team.

Kimbrel yielded four hits in just two-thirds of an inning, with Andrew Romine launching a game-tying, three-run home run on a 3-2 fastball from the right-hander with two outs. Romine, who was a non-roster invitee to 2020 White Sox Spring Training, homered for the first time since ‘17. It was just the second time in Kimbrel’s career that he allowed four hits.

“I was really just trying to find a hole somewhere, trying to get a pitch I could do something with,” Romine said. “I was really looking at trying to stay inside the ball as best I could. Trying to get on that fastball if he came inside, which he did, and I managed to get the barrel on it and these short fences kind of helped a little bit. But a home run is a home run.”

“He said he tugged it a little bit,” said White Sox manager Tony La Russa of Kimbrel’s home run pitch. “He was trying to go away, and he got it where the guy could hit it out of the park. But it happens when you would think that a save is going to be routine. It's never routine.”

Prior to Friday’s outing, Kimbrel had allowed six runs (two earned) over 38 2/3 innings this season -- and just one home run. All but two of those frames had come with the Cubs, who traded Kimbrel to the South Side last Friday in exchange for second baseman Nick Madrigal and right-hander Codi Heuer.

Heuer threw a scoreless ninth for the Cubs on Friday. But the White Sox picked up Kimbrel, starting with Liam Hendriks (6-2). The closer struck out Sergio Alcántara at the end of a 10-pitch at-bat to strand the go-ahead run at second in the eighth and then fanned Willson Contreras, Patrick Wisdom and Ian Happ in the ninth, keeping Matt Duffy at second as the winning run when Happ swung through a 97.3 mph fastball.

“It was a lot of fun coming into that situation, just the rivalry and everything that's going on,” said Hendriks, who made his first appearance as part of the crosstown rivalry. “It was a lot of fun. This is [the] first time I've ever pitched in Wrigley, so it's an experience as well. I'm just happy we were able to pull out a win.

“I tend to throw a little bit more adrenaline into certain at-bats at times, depending on what the situation is. Having someone else's runner on base is a big motivation to try to get a guy out. I was looking for any way to get out of it, and fortunately I was able to get a swing and miss.”

Brian Goodwin eventually delivered the game-winner, launching a two-run opposite-field home run during a four-run 10th off Manuel Rodríguez. Goodwin had entered the game in the sixth as a pinch-runner for Eloy Jiménez. That long ball followed Goodwin’s walk-off shot against Cleveland this past Sunday. Stranger still: Garrett Crochet retired Cubs pitcher Zach Davies, pinch-hitting for Michael Rucker, to end the game.

Gavin Sheets also delivered a run-scoring single in the 10th, as did Tim Anderson, who started the day 0-for-5. Anderson is a fixture on this team, a driving force, but Goodwin and Sheets have joined the fun due to injuries as the season has progressed. They reinforce the idea that any team wanting to win in October needs a full roster to get there.

“Everything we're doing is genuine,” Goodwin said. “All the fun you're seeing us having, that's real."

“When you look at the push toward the playoffs, you need a deep roster,” Lynn said. “You need guys to be able to come through in the clutch who might not be in there every day. Brian has been great for us since he’s been here, and he’s capable of a lot of things. We’ve got a deep roster here. We like what we have.”