Edgar Quero and Tristan Peters delivered the biggest swings of the day as the White Sox beat the Cubs in extra innings to win their most meaningful Crosstown Classic series in years.
The most anticipated Crosstown Classic in recent memory lived up to the hype, with an electric extra-inning rubber match on Sunday afternoon deciding the series.
For Chicago White Sox fans, Sunday’s game will go down in the books.
It was a thrilling Sox victory, stealing the series in statement fashion. It also was the perfect microcosm of this White Sox team and what makes this group so rootable.
When Erick Fedde got tagged for three earned runs in the first inning, it felt like the Sox were in for a long afternoon.
But Fedde settled in, and the Sox did just enough to hang around through some early traffic on the base paths. They got back in the game with a game-tying double off the wall from Miguel Vargas in the bottom of the fifth.
Par for the course at this point. Vargas has developed quite a reputation as a Cubs killer, and he backed it up over the weekend with four hits, two home runs, and six RBIs.
Sean Newcomb and Grant Taylor both came out of the bullpen and delivered two scoreless innings each. Then, as it has been all season, it was unlikely heroes stepping up for the White Sox in big moments.
Outfielder Tristan Peters launched his first career home run in the bottom of the eighth. It was a three-run shot to put the White Sox on top 7-4, a lead that wouldn’t hold after Seranthony Domínguez surrendered a three-run homer of his own to Michael Conforto.
The Cubs added another run in the top half of the 10th, and with the tying run on third base and the White Sox desperate for a big hit, Edgar Quero jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Ryan Rolison and belted a walk-off two-run home run to left-center field.
It was the first home run of the season for Quero, who entered play on Sunday batting .151 with a .410 OPS on the season. Quero had just one extra-base hit in over 100 plate appearances. He did not have a “barrel" - a batted ball that has the ideal combination of exit velocity and launch angle - until that swing.
Quero has arguably been Chicago's least valuable player all season, but he broke out of the slump and played hero, bringing the White Sox to 24-22 on the season with another series win.
It’s the first time the White Sox have won a series against the Cubs since 2022. And what better time for it than the first time the two teams have met while both over .500 with fans in the stands since 2008?
This is what makes this White Sox team and this start to the season so special. They have the star power. We saw on Saturday night how Miguel Vargas, Colson Montgomery, and Munetaka Murakami torched Cubs pitching. That trio has been anchoring the lineup all season and could find itself in the MLB All-Star Game.
But for any team overachieving expectations, there are always the unlikely heroes who step up and contribute. And there’s no better example than what Peters and Quero did on Sunday.
The White Sox now head to Seattle for a three-game set with the Mariners. They remain 1.0 game back in the AL Central standings, but currently hold a wild card position by 2.5 games.