It took a series of strange plays, but the White Sox managed to back up Jake Peavy and earn a series win over the Cubs in the first interleague battle of 2010 with their intracity rivals.
The Sox grabbed the first two of their four runs when A.J. Pierzynski hit a ball into the gap and managed to leg it all the way out to third place, driving in two runs in the process. The very next play, Pierzynski got home himself on a suicide squeeze play by Brent Lillibridge. They added the last in the next inning when Doug Davis hit Lillibridge with the bases loaded to force in run.
This timely offense backed up a quality start by Jake Peavy. Despite a little trouble in the sixth inning, the Sox ace had an overall good night. He went 5.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks, while striking out five. Before being pulled, Peavy gave up a lead off home run to Carlos Pena, and then singles to Alfonso Soriano and Reed Johnson. Sorinao then scored on a Jeff Baker RBI single. That ended Peavy’s night, as he was pulled for Chris Sale.
The bullpen ended up coming through, shutting down any hopes of a Cubs comeback. Sale, Jesse Crain, Matt Thornton, and Sergio Santos combined to throw 3.2 scoreless innings, with Santos picking up his 14th save of the season.
Both teams have an off day on Thursday, but will resume play on Friday. The Sox will host the Nationals and the Cubs will begin a road trip with a stop in Kansas City to face the Royals.