Schwarber homers as Cubs coast past White Sox

[September 24, 2018]  Kyle Schwarber homered, doubled and walked twice and Kyle Hendricks picked up his 13th win by allowing four hits and one run over 7 2/3 innings as the Chicago Cubs cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Ben Zobrist went 3-for-6 and scored a run and Daniel Murphy, Anthony Rizzo and Albert Almora Jr. each had two hits as the Cubs claimed the season series over their city rivals for the second straight year, 4-2. The Cubs, who play their final seven games at Wrigley Field, also sliced their magic number for winning a third consecutive NL Central crown to five over the Milwaukee Brewers, who remained 2 1/2 games behind with a 13-6 win at Pittsburgh.

Hendricks (13-11) gave up only an infield single to Welington Castillo over the first 4 1/3 innings. He struck out five and didn't walk a batter in lowering his ERA to 1.55 in his last seven starts.

Carlos Rodon (6-7) took the loss for the White Sox. He allowed six runs on nine hits in 2 1/3 innings.

The Cubs parlayed four hits into a 3-0 lead in the first highlighted by an RBI double by Rizzo off the right field fence, driving in Murphy, who had singled, and an RBI infield single by David Bote that drove in Rizzo.

Schwarber, who had just two extra-base hits -- both doubles -- in 72 at-bats against left-handed pitchers coming into the contest, made it 4-0 in the second with his 26th homer, a 444-foot drive deep into the bleachers in right-center field.

Cubs shortstop Javier Baez (9) hits a double in the sixth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Quinn Harris-USA TODAY Sports

Schwarber then chased Rodon in the third with an RBI double that one-hopped the fence in right. That drove in Almora, who led off the inning with a single and advanced to second when Bote was hit by a pitch. Bote later scored on a fielder's choice by Ian Happ to make it 6-0.

The White Sox scored their lone run in the fifth on a two-out ground-rule double down the right field line by shortstop Tim Anderson, driving in Castillo.

--Field Level Media

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.