Chicago White Sox: Big first inning leads to win vs Cubs

The Chicago White Sox had a big first inning against the Chicago Cubs and it led to a win.

The Chicago White Sox appear to be a team that is going to score some runs this season. There should be no reason they can’t at least compete for a Wild Card spot and these exhibition games are proving just how lethal they can be. They don’t matter at all in the standings but they could be good indicators of what is to come. The White Sox defeated the Cubs last night by a final score of 5-3 for their second win in as many nights against them.

As you can see, there was a nice addition to the White Sox lineup from the night before and that was their star third baseman, Yoan Moncada. He made all the difference in his first game back as he made many great defensive plays and he had an RBI double that scored Tim Anderson to get things going right away in the first inning. He tested positive for COVID-19 a couple of weeks ago but he is back and ready to go. By the looks of it, he is all set for Opening Day.

The White Sox subbed out Yasmani Grandal for James McCann in this starting lineup. Yes, the White Sox put in their second-best catcher who just happens to be a reigning American League all-star. This is going to be a fantastic duo for the White Sox this year.

Dallas Keuchel had the start for the White Sox in this one. Keuchel pitched five scoreless innings and only surrendered one hit.  He had two strikeouts and no walks in those five frames pitched. There was some great defense and a lot of ground balls forced by Keuchel in this game.  If this is the Dallas Keuchel we get once the season begins, it will be a very dangerous rotation.

The biggest story from this game was the grand slam that Eloy Jimenez hit in the first inning. They were already winning 1-0 so this one put them up 5-0 and they were off and running from there. Everyone knows the story of the Jimenez trade with the Cubs but it will never stop feeling good as a White Sox fan. He loves making his old team look foolish for trading him away and it is so fun to watch.

The White Sox got to Yu Darvish early and often. They were also able to hold off a Cubs rally with their bullpen and finished the game strong. This was a fun two-game exhibition set with the Cubs and the White Sox winning both made it better. They will be back for one more exhibition game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday.