CHICAGO -- As Willson Contreras made his way to the Cubs' dugout in the sixth inning Saturday night, the catcher raised his bat over his head and brought it down with two hands, shattering it on impact with the ground. In the wake of a strikeout, it was a visible show of frustration from a lineup searching for its footing.

The Cubs were dealt a 7-4 loss at the hands of the rival White Sox, who have claimed the first two games in this Crosstown Series at Wrigley Field. The South Siders kept their recent power surge going with five homers, but this was an evening defined by missed chances by the Cubs' heavy hitters.

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"I just think you've got a lot of guys that are searching a little bit right now," Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. "It happens to pretty much be a lot of us at the same time. We're all grinding, and we're all grinding together. That's the thing, we're all in it together.

"When the ship is sinking, you feel like you're all just about to drown. That's the beauty of this game. You get to come back tomorrow and keep paddling and keep playing."

Making the Cubs' offensive woes more glaring has been the showing by the Sox.

José Abreu went deep three times -- once apiece off Kyle Hendricks, Rowan Wick and Duane Underwood Jr. -- to up his homer tally to five in the past two games. Luis Robert and Yasmani Grandal also went deep Saturday, making this just the third time in Cubs history that the club has allowed at least five homers in back-to-back games.

The Cubs gave up 12 homers total from Sept. 4-5, 2012, against the Nationals, who hit six in each of those games. The Cubs gave up 10 (five each game) on Sept. 23-24, 1985, against the Expos. Over the past two nights, the White Sox have launched 11 home runs.

By comparison, the Cubs have 11 homers total in their past 12 games.

"You see the difference in the two sides right now," Cubs manager David Ross said. "I think you see an offense that's really clicking on all cylinders with a ton of confidence [for the White Sox]. And our guys are still just trying to get going."

It certainly does not help that Kris Bryant has been sidelined with left wrist and hand injuries that landed him on the 10-day injured list prior to Saturday's game. That said, the other stars at the front end of the North Side nine have been in a collective slump over the past two weeks.

Entering Saturday, the Cubs' Nos. 1-5 hitters had combined for a .203/.323/.400 slash line with a 29.3 percent strikeout rate and 11.8 percent walk rate. Both the strikeout percentage and batting average ranked 30th in the Majors for the first five batters combined. The slugging percentage ranked 25th.

On Saturday night, that segment of the Cubs' order went 4-for-19 with two walks. In the first seven innings, the Cubs went 1-for-13 with runners on base, with the only breakthrough against Reynaldo López (3 1/3 innings) and Gio Gonzalez (3 2/3) being a two-run double by Victor Caratini in the second inning.

"I think we're just trying too much, you know?" Cubs shortstop Javier Báez said. "We care. We care a lot. As a team, we're trying to do too much. And individually, we're doing it, too. That's why we've got so much pressure on us. We've just got to let the game get back to us and just get in that rhythm again."

Ross did like seeing Báez draw a leadoff walk in the sixth and then spark a mini rally with a two-out single in the eighth.

"I feel like it's coming," said Ross, referring to a hot streak for Báez. "I know there's a sense of urgency there for him as well."

Rizzo pointed to what happened after Báez's hit in the eighth. Kyle Schwarber singled to right field and then Contreras followed by chopping a pitch from White Sox reliever Evan Marshall into center for an RBI single. A leadoff walk by Nico Hoerner in the ninth paved the way for another add-on run.

The damage had been done, but those little moments are what the Cubs are hoping can light the collective spark.

"Guys are grinding," Rizzo said. "Javy took a walk today and then gets a base hit. Willson gets that base hit. Schwarber gets a base hit. Little hits like that can jump-start guys and get them going."

Báez echoed that sentiment.

"We're trying to hit the ball so hard and trying to score five runs when you really can't," said the shortstop. "We've just got to take the base hits to the other side or take whatever they give us."