The Morning After: Paulie Powers Sox Past Cubs
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jun 27, 2010 3:30PM
The Sox once again got the better of the Cubs in their Crosstown rivalry, beating the Cubs 3-2 to win their 11th straight game [Sox recap, Cubs recap]. Alex Rios put the Sox up 1-0 early with an RBI single in the bottom of the third. The Cubs answered when Derrek Lee hit an RBI single in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 1-1 but in the bottom of the frame, Alexi Ramirez's sacrifice fly brought home Paul Konerko for a 2-1 lead. Aramis Ramirez homered for the Cubs in the top of the seventh, keeping the Cubs alive. But it was Paul Konerko belting a solo home run (his 19th homer of the season) off of Andrew Cashner in the bottom of the eighth that put the Sox ahead for good. Freddy Garcia pitched seven solid innings but got a no-decision; the win was credited to J.J. Putz. As for the Cubs, Carlos Silva had a good start as well but also got the no decision with the loss going to Cashner. Even Lou gave it up for the Sox, saying, "They're playing good baseball -- give them credit. They're getting the big hit when needed, they're getting good pitching. They're playing a good brand of baseball and being rewarded with a lot of wins."
With the win, the Sox officially claimed the unfortunately sponsored BP Crosstown Cup even though there's still one more game to play today (1:05 p.m., WGN). More importantly for the Sox, the win now puts them only 1.5 games out of first place in the AL Central, something that, two weeks ago, seemed far-fetched. As for the Cubs, well, it's looking like it's going to be a long finish to summer.