White Sox offense explodes in blowout of Cubs, 10-4

Reynaldo López was nothing short of excellent today, and the Chicago White Sox exploded to back him up, 10-4.

The game started out with a bang as Chicago Cubs leadoff man Daniel Murphy homered off López on a 3-2 count, after starting the lefthander 3-0. After that. López was lights-out against those Cubbies, striking out eight and allowing only four hits following the home run.

Jose Quintana sailed through the first inning with ease, but things went sour for him in the second. It started off with back-to-back singles from Matt Davidson and Welington Castillo, followed by a three-run jack from Kevan Smith to make the game 3-1. Quintana let up two hits after that Smith’s clout, making it five straight hits in a row. Quintana would get out of the inning with Adam Engel flying deep to left, and then striking out Tim Anderson and José Rondón.

The scoring would only continue in the fourth inning, as Smith struck again, for a leadoff double. Yoán Moncada then struck out on, what new, a questionable call. Ryan LaMarre doubled Smith home to make it 4-1. But Quintana would again escape the inning, after catching LaMarre stealing and Anderson flying out to right.

Quintana got pulled in the bottom of the sixth, with no outs, after Castillo singled. Quintana’s first start back at the G-Rate? Not so hot, allowing nine hits and five earned runs.

Dillon Maples came in to relieve Quintana, while Daniel Palka pinch-hit for Kevan Smith. And that’s where Palka did what he does best, and that’s hit bombs. He launched a rocket off Maples to make the game 6-1. Moncada singled, followed by yet another LaMarre hit, scoring Moncada and making the game 7-1. Jaime García would come in and get all three outs for the inning, as Maples failed to even get one.

Randy Rosario took the mound for the Cubs in the bottom of the seventh and gave up four straight hits before he could even get one out. Those hits came from Rondón, Avisaíl García, Davidson and Castillo. This inning would not end well for the Cubs, as the White Sox put up three more runs to put the game out of reach at 10-1.

Wait — did I say out of reach? Ah yes, the worst part of White Sox baseball: the bullpen. To make this short, the White Sox went through three pitchers in the top of the eighth as they struggled to get outs, allowing the Cubs to score three runs and trim the lead to 10-4.

Nate Jones closed out the game and secured the win. White Sox win, Cubs lose, life is good. Fly the L.

Let’s talk about López in his last six starts and how great he’s been. He’s only allowed five earned runs in 39 ²⁄₃ innings, which is a 1.13 ERA. I love Reynaldo López.

Anyway, tomorrow I head to the game in hopes of seeing a win, as Lucas Giolito takes the hill against Jon Lester.