Morning Box Score

By Matt Motyka in News on Jul 20, 2009 3:00PM

Cubs Sweep Nationals
The Cubs completed a four-game sweep of the Washington Nationals with an 11-3 win on Sunday afternoon. Chicago did the bulk of its damage in the fourth, as Alfonso Soriano jump started a seven-run inning with a one-on, one-out homer to left field. Jake Fox also went deep for the Cubs, hitting a gratuitous three-run blast in the sixth to give him four runs batted in on the day. Newly anointed starter Kevin Hart added to the offensive frenzy with his first big-league RBI and supplemented his work at the plate with five innings of two-run baseball on the mound. After an ideal beginning to the second half, the Cubs will draw a much tougher test when they square off against the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies tonight at 6:05.

Orioles Stop Sox
There was no series sweep for the White Sox on Sunday, as they fell to the Baltimore Orioles 10-2. Aside from a pair of solo shots by Dewayne Wise and Chris Getz, Chicago had nothing on Orioles’ starter Jeremy Guthrie, who held the Sox to just three hits over eight innings. Jose Contreras did not have the same good fortune, allowing five runs in 4.1 innings that included two wild pitches, two hit batsmen and four bases on balls. Add to that a ninth-inning assault on reliever Tony Pena, and the Sox were saddled with their first loss of the second half. The South Siders will stay put to host a four-game series versus the Tampa Bay Rays, starting tonight at 7:11.