CHICAGO — Few things came easy Tuesday night at Wrigley Field for the crosstown foes.
Bone-chilling conditions — a wind chill in the 30s with a constant light rain and a 23-mph wind whipping from left to right field — created a brutal environment that Chicago Cubs and White Sox players and an announced 34,206 fans endured during a 3-1 Sox win.
Rarely was the play entertaining in a grind-it-out game that pitted Sox starter Michael Kopech against a struggling Cubs offense. The Cubs countered with a bullpen game started by reliever Scott Effross after scheduled starter Drew Smyly went on the bereavement list before the game.
The Sox used a soft tapper down the third-base line from Jake Burger against Effross and a sacrifice bunt by catcher Reese McGuire to plate two runs off right-hander Keegan Thompson in the second inning. They tacked on a run in the third when Tim Anderson took Thompson deep for his fourth home run.
The Sox wouldn’t need any more offensive help. Liam Hendriks needed only 10 pitches in a perfect ninth to pick up his sixth save.
Six Sox pitchers combined to strike out 12 Cubs, led by Kopech’s five in four shutout innings. Kopech lowered his ERA to 1.17 through five starts.
As has occurred too frequently lately, the Cubs had opportunities, but two double plays hurt offensive momentum. They finished 1 for 5 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base.
The Cubs bullpen came in leading the majors with 115 strikeouts and 11.33 strikeouts per nine innings. However, the five Cubs relievers — including Effross — combined for only three strikeouts.
An athletic play by shortstop Nico Hoerner helped put away the Sox’s bases-loaded threat in the fifth. Hoerner, ranging in the hole, fielded a grounder off José Abreu’s bat and threw across his body to second base to start an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. The Sox wasted a chance to build on their three-run lead after Thompson hit Josh Harrison and Anderson to start the inning.
Hoerner was also responsible for the Cubs’ lone run, doubling home Ian Happ with two outs in the sixth.
