Brewers 5, Cubs 2 more ›

The White Sox always seem to have one streak or another going on. Last night, the Sox downed Seattle 9-5 to extend their current winning streak to four games and extended their current home win streak to 11 games. Down 2-0 in the second, a two-run double by Juan Pierre tied the game at 2-2 and the Sox added two more for a 4-2 lead. Ramon Castro then did a little flexing, hitting solo homers in the fourth and sixth innings. Seattle did their best to keep up with the Sox and had cut the lead to 7-5 when Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin - the power core of this year's Sox squad - delivered back-to-back homers to lead off the seventh and increase the Sox' cushion. Freddy Garcia gave up three runs over six innings to earn his 10th win of the year. The Sox now sit at 57-44, 13 games over .500, a far cry from where they were less than two months ago (ex: they were 9 games under .500 at 24-33 on June 8). While Detroit has sunk to six games back in thanks to a losing streak, the Minnesota Twins are on their own hot streak and keeping pace with the Sox, sitting just 1.5 games back. Things will only heat up in the first few weeks of August when the Sox will play Detroit seven times and Minnesota six times. But, first, the Sox welcome Oakland to town for a weekend series starting tonight (7:10 p.m., CSN). more ›

It was a pretty exciting night at The Cell last night and that doesn't even include the Mayor's close call. Down 5-1 early, the Sox rallied for a 6-5 win over the Mariners, extending their winning streak to three games. Gordon Beckham belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the second inning and in the fifth, Alexei Ramirez and Paul Konerko both smacked solo shots to bring the Sox to a 5-5 tie. After that display of power, though, it was an Alex Rios RBI single in the seventh that scored the winning run for the Sox. Starter Mark Buehrle gave up all five Mariner runs and got a no-decision as Matt Thornton got the win in relief with Bobby Jenks notching the save. The Sox hope to complete the Seattle sweep tonight when Freddy Garcia takes the hill (7:10 p.m., CSN). more ›

The Sox were firing on all cylinders last night on the way to an 11-0 romp over the Mariners. Gavin Floyd pitched seven scoreless innings and the bullpen followed suit with two more goose eggs for the shutout. Meanwhile, the Sox were active at the plate, sprinting out to an 8-0 lead after just three innings. In the first inning, the Sox used singles and doubles to knock runners home but in the second inning, they just said, "Screw it," and used the long ball as Alexei Ramirez and Paul Konerko homered. Andruw Jones added to the tally with a three-run shot in the fifth. The Sox have outscored Seattle 17-1 over the first two games of their series and they hope to continue that trend when they go for the sweep three in a row tonight (7:10 p.m., CSN). more ›

Sox Top M's more ›

Sox Fall To Mariners more ›

Cubs' Offense Explodes more ›

Sox Dispatch Seattle more ›

Nine straight wins. Three straight series sweeps. 13 wins in 14 games. There's no team in Major League Baseball hotter than the Chicago White Sox. And, don't look now, but after yesterday's 2-0 win over the Atlanta Braves and a Minnesota loss, the Sox are right back in the thick of the playoff race, trailing the division-leading Twins by just 2.5 games. Yesterday's game was a pitcher's duel between Gavin Floyd and Derek Lowe, both pitching seven innings of scoreless ball (Floyd allowed only two hits while striking out nine). But with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, it was Paul Konerko playing hero for the Sox, belting his 18th homer of the year, a two-run shot, to give the Sox the lead for good. J.J. Putz and Bobby Jenks each hurled scoreless innings to secure the win. Along with their spot in the standings, Ozzie says the mentality of the white-hot starting rotation has changed as well: "The way we're pitching right now, we expect to win. We're not hoping anymore. Every time we go out there, everyone knows at the start of the game we're going to have a chance." The Sox now welcome in the Crosstown rival Cubs for the conclusion of their annual rivalry as they look to extend their winning streak to double-digits. more ›

The White Sox just can't seem to lose. After waiting out a rain delay thanks to last night's storms, the Sox still rattled off their eighth straight win with a 4-2 victory over the visiting Braves. Down 1-0 early, Paul Konerko singled in a run in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 1-1. And then Carlos Quentin stepped up and belted a two-run shot, putting the Sox in the lead for good. The Braves added a run in the fifth to get a little bit closer but it was Quentin who again came through with a solo shot in the seventh to give the Sox pitchers some insurance. Mark Buehrle allowed nine hits but just two runs en route to his sixth win of the year while Bobby Jenks threw a scoreless ninth for his 16th save. The Sox are now 36-34 on the year and still trail division-leading Minnesota by 3.5 games. They wrap up their series with Atlanta this afternoon in a bid to hit nine straight wins heading into this weekend's conclusion of the Crosstown rivalry with the Cubs (1:05 p.m., WGN). more ›

Sox Keep Rolling more ›

The Cubs and Sox had a rare simultaneous day off yesterday as they both traveled, the Cubs to the Pacific Northwest where they'll open up a series against the Seattle Mariners tonight (9:10 p.m., CSN +) and the Sox back home where they'll open up a new homestand on a hot streak against the equally hot, NL East-leading Atlanta Braves (7:10 p.m., CSN). Meanwhile, All-Star voting continues online and neither the Cubs or the Sox have a shot at getting a player into the starting lineup. In fact, the Sox have no players among the AL's leading vote-getters though at least Paul Konerko (.296/17/51) has a good shot at being named as a reserve. As for the Cubs, Alfonso Soriano (.270/10/35) ranks a distant 11th place in outfielder voting; whether or not he makes the squad is up in the air and it's questionable how Carlos Silva's recent struggles (two straight losses) will affect his odds at making the team even though his 8-0 start was the team's lone bright spot in the first half of 2010. At 8-2 and with a 3.01 ERA, Silva is still the bright spot of the starting rotation and just one more win will probably be enough to send him to Anaheim. more ›

The Cavs had no problem dispatching the Bulls but the Cubs and Sox were more successful on Sunday, completing series sweeps. more ›

The Blackhawks took a thrilling overtime victory over the Predators, and both the Cubs and White Sox are playing for sweeps in their weekend series. more ›

Cubs Mug Brewers more ›

It's the last push of Spring Training for both squads ahead of Monday's Opening Day. The Cubs got a solid outing from Carlos Silva and the bullpen held to give the team a 2-0 win over the Rockies. The Cubs now head over to Phoenix where they'll play a two-game series against the Diamondbacks before heading to Atlanta to open the 2010 campaign. more ›

Former Cub Milton Bradley has broken his silence on last year's tumultuous season at Wrigley. Speaking to the New York Times, Bradley said, “Two years ago, I played, and I was good. I go to Chicago, not good. I’ve been good my whole career. So, obviously, it was something with Chicago, not me.” Yes, it was Chicago's fault you hit .257 with 12 homers last season. It was Chicago's fault you turned around and threw a ball into the bleachers with only two outs in the inning. And we're sure it's Chicago's fault you're with your eighth team in a 10 year career, even if you are "good" (being a career .277 hitter is way more highly valued than it used to be). Nah, Milton. You're to blame for your bad season and no one else. Well, except for the guy who signed you to that garish contract but he's been run out of town, too. Wait, what? He's still here??? Aw, crap. more ›

The Seattle Times is reporting this morning that the Mariners and Cubs are close to working out a trade that would send the beleaguered outfielder to Seattle in exchange for pitcher Carlos Silva and $9 million cash (a total profit of $6 million for the Cubs once payments on salaries were hashed out). Sports Illustrated originally reported the trade talks and mentions several other teams were in the running, including the Rangers, Bradley's old team. Bradley has $21 million left on his contract over the next two years while Silva has $25 million left over two years over his contract. Silva possesses a 60-64 career record with a career 4.72 ERA. Look. We understand that A.L. pitchers usually have a bit of success when switching from the A.L. to the N.L. but...REALLY? Yes, Bradley's a head case that's going to be hard to unload, especially with that atrocious contract. But to actually take on a more expensive contract from a pitcher with a career ERA near 5.00? That's the best you could do, Hendry? Ugh. We give up. [h/t to the Tribune's Kevin Pang] more ›

The Mariners rallied from a 3-0 deficit to edge the White Sox 4-3 in 14 innings, a dramatic, tough-to-swallow loss for the Pale House. The Sox got runs in the first, third, and fifth innings to take an early 3-0 lead. John Danks gave the White Sox a fantastic outing, pitching eight innings, allowing only one run, and striking out three. But closer Bobby Jenks blew the game in the ninth, giving up two runs on a pair of solo homers in the ninth. The Sox bullpen held until the 14th when Ichiro got an RBI single off of Scott Linebrink to end the game. Afterward, Ozzie could only say: more ›

For the Sox, on the outside of the playoffs and looking in, every game counts, which makes last night's 4-1 loss to Seattle tough to swallow, especially given a Detroit victory. Adding injury to insult was the exit of Gavin Floyd after only three innings of pitching due to a sore hip. Floyd gave up three runs to the Mariners before leaving. Meanwhile, the Sox offense was handcuffed by Mariners pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith, who surrendered only a home run to Gordon Beckham in the eighth. With the loss, the Sox find themselves still in third place and once more 6.5 games back of the division-leading Tigers. Said manager Ozzie Guillen after the game, "Every time we win, it's hope. Every time we lose, it's not a good day for us, no matter the score or how we lose, especially when teams we chase win." The Sox try to keep hope alive when they close out this road trip against Seattle today at 5:40 p.m. (CSN). more ›

Cubs Out-slug Brewers more ›

Cubs Slip to Reds more ›

Cubs, Harden Shutdown Reds more ›

White Sox Pummel Mariners, Take Back First Place more ›

With unseasonable weather descending upon much of North America, schools getting ready to reconvene, and sports seasons getting exciting, it's a busy time of year for us here in the Ist-A-Verse. Luckily, even with all the things we have to do, we still managed to get together to let you know what we've all been up to. After cooling down from a hot weekend of many badass Sunset Junction Street Fair photo dispatches, LAist asked... more ›

It looked like the Cubs and Carlos Zambrano were headed to a contentious arbitration hearing yesterday, but the two sides negotiated right up to the hearing's start time and came to an agreement on a 1-year, $12.4 million deal. more ›

We'd like to start this week's run-down by wishing a very happy birthday to parent blog Gothamist, which turned four on Friday. If it wasn't for them, the rest of us wouldn't be here. They celebrated their birthday by nabbing an interview with Entourage star Adrian Grenier, who misses NYC public transportation when he's working in LA. They also reported on NYU students protesting a band whose name is also known as a slur,... more ›

Leave it to the Cubs to mess up the easiest decision of the off-season, hiring Lou Piniella as their new manager over Joe Girardi. The Cubs and Piniella agreed to a 3-year, $10 million deal that will be announced during a Tuesday press conference. more ›

DCist is screwed in the event of an oil crisis. Not that we're not all screwed in the event of an oil crisis, just D.C. is more screwed. Don't sell your car yet, District resident, a cabbie can kick you to the curb if he doesn't like your address. Not even Metro can save you now. Londonist experiences the London of the future through the wonders of 3D modeling, but while the 3D guys are... more ›

Shanghaiist probably knows a little more about China than the Chicago Sun-Times. Giving them the benefit of the doubt on that one. The city does to have a music scene. Don't even front like they don't. They also have Dorito bananas and white guys shopping for wives. What they don't have is any more tolerance for jaywalkers. Bostonist sees Boston and Somerville each whip out their art and face off. A plagiarized novel is the... more ›