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Crosstown Checkpoint: Cubs take two of three, but Sox leave Wrigley with a puncher’s chance (25-21)

The White Sox walked into Wrigley needing to prove their early-season pace wasn’t a mirage. They walked out bruised in the middle two games, but still very much in the AL Central chase at 25-21, sitting a half-game back of Minnesota—while the Cubs, after taking the last two, settled at 24-24 with the rivalry still feeling unfinished.

Game 1 (Fri, May 22): White Sox 8, Cubs 7 — ninth-inning doubles derby

Friday night turned into a classic: early fireworks, a blown lead, and then a late Sox gut-check that stole the game back.

Chicago (AL) stormed to a 5-0 lead behind relentless pressure—Luis Robert Jr. ran wild and kept forcing throws, Bryan Ramos launched a solo shot, and the Sox kept stacking doubles until Wrigley was rattled.

But the cracks showed too. A defensive miscue opened the door, and Dansby Swanson’s three-run homer detonated the calm. The Cubs clawed all the way back, then in the bottom of the 8th finally nudged ahead, 7-6, in the kind of moment that usually flips an entire series.

Not this time.

In the top of the 9th, the Sox answered with pure lineup depth and nerve:

Colson Montgomery ripped a leadoff double, then swiped third like he owned the basepaths.

Miguel Vargas doubled in the tying run.

Kyle Teel, pressed into a huge spot, doubled in the go-ahead run.

From there, Edwin Díaz slammed the door for save No. 13, and the Sox escaped with the kind of win that feels louder than one game in the standings.

Player of the Game: Miguel Vargas — 3 hits, 2 RBIs, and a season-defining swing in the 9th.

Side note that mattered: the Cubs’ bullpen took a hit—Robbie Ray and Cade Horton both left injured while pitching.

Game 2 (Sat, May 23): Cubs 8, White Sox 0 — Sandoval silences them, Schultz debuts

Saturday was the flip side of the rivalry: the Cubs landed first, kept landing, and the Sox never found air.

Patrick Sandoval carved through Chicago’s lineup, and the Cubs struck with a three-run third, then added on with power late. The Sox managed only scattered traffic and no payoff, and one defensive mistake snowballed into another.

The bright spot—at least as a “big picture” development—was the debut chapter of Noah Schultz, freshly called up and immediately dropped into Wrigley pressure. The results were rocky (including a costly long ball in the late innings), but the organization’s direction was clear: the kid’s here, and they’re not hiding him.

Game 3 (Sun, May 24): Cubs 7, White Sox 1 — Imanaga sets the tone, fifth inning breaks it open

Sunday started with the Sox playing uphill immediately after an error helped the Cubs scratch the first run. Then Lenyn Sosa popped a solo homer, and the scoreboard pressure just kept growing.

The Sox did get a jolt when Wilfred Veras went deep to cut it to 2-1—his second homer of the series—but the game snapped in the bottom of the 5th. The Cubs turned it into a full-on inning: triples, rockets into gaps, and the dagger—Pete Crow-Armstrong’s two-run homer—that flipped it from “reachable” to “survive.”

Schultz, used again out of the bullpen, looked far more comfortable in this one—calmer, cleaner, and better at limiting damage. If the Sox are going to build something around him this year, Sunday looked more like the shape of it.

Series themes that actually mattered

1) The Sox proved they can win in chaos…
Friday’s comeback was pure “team belief” baseball: speed, doubles, and timely swings when the game was slipping away.

2) …but the offense disappeared for 18 innings after.
Two runs across Saturday and Sunday doesn’t cut it, especially when the defense is giving away extra outs.

3) Schultz’s arrival is the headline beyond the scoreboard.
Even with a bumpy first look, the Sox are officially in the “let the future play” phase—while still winning enough to keep the standings interesting.

News/Transactions: the system is moving

Braden Montgomery caught absolute fire, earning Southern League Player of the Week after a nuclear week at Birmingham, then earned a promotion to AAA Charlotte.

Mike Small (top pitching prospect) promoted to AA Birmingham.

Jarold Rosado optioned to AAA; Ky Bush recalled.

Earlier: Drew Thorpe hit the IL (15-day, about three weeks expected), and Schultz was selected to the big-league roster with the initial plan to work out of the bullpen.