The Cubs took care of business as they needed to, completing a sweep of the nine-win Colorado Rockies on Wednesday to set up another series against the Reds after a dramatic three-game set last weekend in Cincinnati.
While the offense was largely kept in check during a cool series against the Rockies at Wrigley Field, managing nine runs in the three games, the pitching staff did its part by holding the visitors to five runs.
The White Sox return to division play next week at Rate Field with four games against the Detroit Tigers beginning Monday followed by three against the Kansas City Royals. The Sox are 2-14 against American League Central teams this season.
Every Thursday during the regular season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Cubs and White Sox.
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Seiya Suzuki, Pete Crow-Armstrong continue torrid stretch
Crow-Armstrong keeps showing he can affect a game in a multitude of ways.
After his steal of third base in the 11th inning Tuesday led to scoring the tying run in the Cubs’ eventual walk-off victory, his solo home run in the sixth Wednesday to right field on a ball well below the zone proved to be the difference in a 2-1 win to sweep the hapless Rockies.
It marked his 15th home run, tying him with Suzuki for the team lead.
Crow-Armstrong became only the fifth player in MLB history with at least 15 home runs and 15-plus stolen bases in the first 56 games of a season, joining Alfonso Soriano (2003), Eric Davis (1987), Bobby Bonds (1975) and Ken Williams (1922).
Photos: Chicago Cubs beat Colorado Rockies 2-1 to complete sweep at Wrigley Field
When told that tidbit, Crow-Armstrong joked how he was more focused on swiping a base Tuesday night after seeing teammate Kyle Tucker also reach 15 steals.
“Baseball’s got a lot of funny stats,” Crow-Armstrong said. “It’s too early in the year for me to look at a stat like that and be really taken aback, I guess just because I said I was evaluating different things after (Tuesday’s struggles).”
Suzuki (51) and Crow-Armstrong (50) are the first pair of teammates in Cubs history to reach 50 RBIs in the club’s first 56 games (since RBIs became an official stat in 1920), according to team historian Ed Hartig. The duo surpassed Hack Wilson and Charlie Grimm (1929), Hack Wilson and Kiki Cuyler (1930), and Ernie Banks and Ron Santo (1969), who all did it 62 team games.
Suzuki extended his hitting streak to nine games with his RBI double in the first inning Wednesday. He’s hitting .417 during that stretch. Crow-Armstrong said it has been a treat hitting fourth and getting to watch Suzuki’s at-bats from the on-deck circle.
“I love Seiya, when Seiya is hot, it’s some of the most beautiful baseballs being hit I think that you can find if you appreciate the game, if you appreciate Seiya back-spinning a baseball,” Crow-Armstrong said. “He’s just one of the better hitters I’ve ever seen.”
‘Everybody was on the same page’ with White Sox prospect Colson Montgomery
Ryan Fuller didn’t talk about reinventing Montgomery at the plate during the shortstop’s two weeks in Arizona.
“But (it was) reaffirming who he is and what he does best,” the White Sox director of hitting explained Sunday. “We saw some things movement-wise that just wasn’t matching up with what he does when he’s at his best. That was the performance staff, the biomechanists, everybody working together, to say when you are at your best, here’s how you are moving, and every day we can inch closer to that.”
Fuller worked with Montgomery on his swing when the 2021 first-round pick went to the club’s Arizona complex. General manager Chris Getz announced the move April 29, and Montgomery was back in Triple-A Charlotte’s lineup May 13.
Montgomery entered Thursday with a .318 average (14-for-44), six doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs in the 11 games since returning the Knights.
“Leaving (Arizona) was great physically, mentally as well,” Fuller said. “We got to talk about mindset, go out to dinner every night. So, the two of us, it was a great experience and to see him go out and have success and have fun and look like himself again, that’s how you want to draw it up.”
Fuller said the Sox went in with a plan — and Montgomery was able to attack it every day.
“Everybody was on the same page of here’s the plan, let’s go in and when we leave we are going to be in a better spot,” Fuller said. “Kudos to him for taking it really well and then attacking the problem and going back and executing the plan really well.”
Getz said that Montgomery’s “routine has been very consistent in his work.”
“He’s much more confident in himself,” Getz said. “He’s obviously gotten more hits, he’s had better at-bats. There’s still work to be done. We certainly want to cement the process with him. But he’s done a nice job.”
Number of the week: 8
The Sox have lost eight of their nine road series. Their lone road-series win came May 13-15 when they took two of three from the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. The Sox are 6-23 on the road.
Week ahead: Cubs
- Thursday: off
- Friday: vs. Reds, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Saturday: vs. Reds, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Sunday: vs. Reds, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: at Nationals, 5:45 p.m., Marquee
- Wednesday: at Nationals, 5:45 p.m., Marquee
It’s not an envious position for a pitcher to find himself.
The automatic runner who opens an extra inning on second base immediately puts pressure on the pitcher. While rookie third baseman Matt Shaw became the hero in Tuesday’s win against the Rockies with his walk-off single to right field, right-hander Chris Flexen helped set up one of his first big moments in a Cubs uniform.
Flexen pitched the 10th and 11th innings and was prepared to head out for the next frame once Michael Busch’s single to left field tied it.
“I do think that you need that in a season: You need some games that people remember, you need some moments to build that camaraderie, you need to have heroes that aren’t the same heroes over and over,” Cubs President Jed Hoyer said before Tuesday’s win.
Manager Craig Counsell praised Flexen’s two “huge” innings and the other work he has put in that has given the Cubs chances to come back and win by covering innings. Flexen hasn’t allowed an earned run in 12 1/3 innings (seven outings).
“As they’ve proven in the past, time after time, we’re never out of the fight and give these guys a chance and get the crowd into it a little more,” Flexen said afterward. “It’s pretty electric.”
Asked what the key to his success, Flexen wryly noted the Rockies had unfortunately scored their automatic runner in the top of the 11th. But looking at his season more broadly, the 30-year-old credited the organization’s “tremendous” pitching department that has helped him get on track with a lower arm slot that has put him in a more competitive position since he signed a minor-league deal and was part of big-league camp.
“Hats off to them, as soon as I came into camp, it was a big part of that, some changes that I had to make,” Flexen said. “The mindset coming out of the bullpen is get outs as fast you can, and whatever situation you’re in, try to hold it down right there and go out there and compete.”
Week ahead: White Sox
- Thursday: off
- Friday: at Orioles, 6:05 p.m., CHSN
- Saturday: at Orioles, 3:05 p.m., CHSN
- Sunday: at Orioles, 12:35 p.m., CHSN
- Monday: vs. Tigers, 6:40 p.m., CSHN
- Tuesday: vs. Tigers, 6:40 p.m., CHSN
- Wednesday: vs. Tigers, 6:40 p.m., CHSN
Josh Rojas felt like his work in the cages had been going “really well” in the days leading up to this week’s series against the New York Mets.
“I feel like I’m trending in the right direction,” he told the Tribune on Monday at Citi Field in New York. “Now it’s just a matter of getting the right pitches to hit, staying disciplined up there.”
The next night, he doubled in his first at-bat.
A right toe fracture delayed the start of the infielder’s season. He’s hitting .158 (9-for-57) in 20 games after going 1-for-5 with an RBI on Wednesday.
“I’ve been trying to get to the point where I can hit consistent line drives all over the field,” Rojas said. “I’ve been rolling over pitches that I feel like I should be elevating and getting into the gap. Pitches out over the plate, I’m fouling off or popping up.
“I’ve been trying to get more consistent in finding a position to put my body in to hit line drives all over the field and adjust to offspeed and breaking stuff.”
What we’re reading
- With deadline trending toward a seller’s market, Jed Hoyer knows Cubs may have to zag for upgrades
- 3 series takeaways after Andrew Benintendi helps the White Sox avoid a sweep in New York
- Column: Has the Wrigley Field video board enhanced the ballpark experience for Cubs fans?
- White Sox send struggling Andrew Vaughn to Triple-A Charlotte: ‘He’s better than just grinding’
- Seiya Suzuki — fresh off Player of the Week honor — drives in MLB-best 50th run in Cubs’ walk-off win
- ‘Very confusing play’ ignites a bad inning as the White Sox drop to 21 games under .500
- ‘I’m in a good spot’: Cubs’ Justin Steele reunites with the team as he recovers from elbow surgery
- White Sox work out their crunch at catcher with Matt Thaiss trade: ‘We’ve got some depth’
- Column: Report on Cubs’ All-Star Game announcement raises many questions — but team stays quiet
- Adrian Houser continues to impress, but the White Sox strand 10 baserunners in 2-1 loss
Quotable
“When you’re in a building phase, it’s hard emotionally, I’ve been there. You’ve got to make decisions towards the future. … The key when you’re in this position is just like, OK, finding one player after another, and you build up a critical mass, and all of a sudden, you can be pretty good pretty quickly.” — Jed Hoyer on seeing franchises like the Rockies struggle to compete every day.
