The Chicago Cubs will aim to continue their dominant season at the plate on Saturday afternoon when they host the visiting Chicago White Sox in the middle game of a three-game interleague series.
The Cubs have won three of their past four games overall and eight of the past nine against their crosstown rivals dating back to July 2023.
The North Siders took Game 1 of the weekend series 13-3 on Friday and have now scored 257 runs in 45 games — an average of 5.7 per outing. The Cubs are the second-highest-scoring team in the majors, trailing only the Los Angeles Dodgers (259 runs).
Spearheading the Cubs’ stellar start to the season, Pete Crow-Armstong went 4-for-5 with a homer and six RBIs in the victory on Friday. The 23-year-old center fielder, who has a .282 batting average, leads the club with 12 home runs and 49 hits.
“He’s playing at a really high level right now,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of Crow-Armstrong. “He’s driving the ball in the air and that obviously has led to the home runs.
“It’s fun to see a player take another step. He’s taking a big step both offensively and defensively. He’s an impact player, and the ability that he has now to hit home runs has been a pretty big surprise, but you need surprises, and it’s been an important one.”
In front of Crow-Armstrong, Matthew Boyd (3-2, 2.78 ERA) will start for the Cubs on Saturday, looking to complete at least six innings for the fourth time in five outings.
Boyd, 34, allowed two runs in six frames on Sunday in a no-decision against the New York Mets. The Cubs lost 6-2. Boyd, a longtime American League Central rival of the White Sox as a member of the Detroit Tigers, is 4-9 with a 4.98 ERA in 19 career starts against the South Siders.
The White Sox dropped their sixth game in a row against the Cubs on Friday and their 31st of the season — second most in the majors (Rockies, 37). On a day to forget for the White Sox, the club allowed a season high in runs while committing two errors that led to five unearned tallies.
For first-year manager Will Venable — who was a coach for the Cubs from 2018-2020 — the defensive miscues didn’t come as a surprise on a windy day at Wrigley Field.
“Whether you played here or not, it’s a tough environment and you saw that all over the field on both sides,” Venable said. “That’s something that was one of our big notes coming in and you’re prepared for it and you talk about it and then you’re just kind of vulnerable to what happens out there. And it’s really tough for everybody.”
Sean Burke (2-4, 4.15 ERA) will take the mound to start for the White Sox on Saturday. The 25-year-old right-hander threw four innings of four-hit, one-run ball in a no-decision against the Miami Marlins on Sunday. The White Sox won 4-2.
Entering the 12th start of his two-year career, Burke is set to face the Cubs for the first time.
–Field Level Media
