If manager Pedro Grifol sticks around long enough, he’ll learn to share the White Sox’ disdain for the Cubs.
From ownership on down, it’s no secret the South Siders don’t care for the Cubbies. And fans are in on the loathing much more than the players, who enjoy the crowds but otherwise view the Cubs as just another foe.
‘‘It’s one city, two teams; that says it all,’’ Grifol said before the struggling Sox played spoiler with a 5-3 victory against the contending Cubs on Tuesday at Wrigley Field.
‘‘This is a great place to play. The environment is big-time energy. I love the stadium. I love everything about it. The fans are loud. It’s packed. It’s emotional. It’s high-energy. It’s a rivalry.’’
At Guaranteed Rate Field last month, the Cubs swept two games. At Wrigley, the Sox won for the sixth consecutive time Tuesday, capturing a meaningless game in the standings for them but not for the Cubs.
‘‘The feeling was great,’’ said infielder Elvis Andrus, whose two-run single in the second inning gave the Sox a 3-2 lead. ‘‘The energy was unbelievable. Can’t wait to step up tomorrow and win another one.’’
The crosstown rivalry is at its best when both teams are contending, but you can blame the Sox (48-72) for not holding up their end of the deal in 2023.
‘‘It’s been difficult, for sure,’’ Sox center fielder Luis Robert said through a translator before the game. ‘‘The results aren’t the ones we were expecting. And it’s even more difficult because when you have a good game [individually], you aren’t able to celebrate.’’
Robert, who hadn’t started the previous three games because of a sprained pinkie on his right hand, was able to celebrate a big moment when he hit his 32nd home run of the season against Cubs reliever Julian Merryweather to break a 3-3 tie in the seventh.
As the no-doubter was carrying 422 feet, Robert spun around toward the Sox’ dugout and flipped his bat aside.
A young fan wearing a Cubs jersey in the first rows behind the on-deck circle showed Robert a finger — and not his pinkie. Robert took his index finger to his lips as though to silence him.
‘‘The pitch [before] that, I swung and missed, [and] the fans started making jokes and booing,’’ Robert said. ‘‘I didn’t like that. That’s why, when I hit the ball, I did what I did. I didn’t like the fans’ reaction.’’
‘‘That was passion right there,’’ Andrus said. ‘‘That was a way for him [to say], ‘Who’s the boss?’ ’’
It was a rare but satisfying moment for a grumpy, fed-up Sox Nation seeing the Cubs in hot pursuit of their sixth postseason appearance in the last nine years, seven seasons removed from a World Series title celebrated one month before the Sox embarked on a rebuild that produced only two one-and-done postseason showings.
While the Sox staged a sell-off at the trade deadline two weeks ago, the Cubs were buying. And then questions about clubhouse culture and leadership made national headlines, leaving Grifol trying to salvage something from the rubble in his first season.
The Sox played a clean defensive game, including catcher Yasmani Grandal throwing out Nico Hoerner trying to steal and second baseman Zach Remillard making a sliding catch in the outfield. Andrew Benintendi’s double in the ninth scored Andrus, who had singled and stolen second, for the Sox’ fifth run.
Sox starter Touki Toussaint pitched four-plus innings, surviving five walks and allowing three runs, two of them on homers by Ian Happ in the first and Seiya Suzuki in the fourth. Rookie Lane Ramsey pitched a scoreless inning to earn his first victory, and Gregory Santos (fourth save) notched a five-out save, throwing 13 of 16 pitches for strikes and striking out three.
