The Chicago White Sox boast a major-league-best 61 runs since the All-Star break and have gone 6-1 over that span.
It’s certainly a feel-good run for a team that toiled during much of the first half, and the White Sox hope to maintain their surge as they host the crosstown rival Chicago Cubs on Saturday night.
An 18-hit attack lifted the White Sox to a 12-5 rout of the Cubs in Friday’s series opener. Colson Montgomery homered for the third straight game while Chase Meidroth, Austin Slater and Mike Tauchman also went deep for the White Sox.
Montgomery is the first rookie in White Sox history to hit a home run in three consecutive games. Edgar Quero collected four hits on Friday, a feat fellow rookies Kyle Teel and Meidroth also have accomplished since the break.
“We want to build around these young guys that you’re seeing now, and we have some young guys coming in the system; we just had a good draft,” White Sox assistant general manager Josh Barfield said. “This young core is really doing a good job of coming up here and not letting the game speed up on them and having success.”
Reese McGuire was 3-for-4 with four RBIs for the Cubs, including a three-run homer. Vidal Brujan added three hits, and Craig Counsell fell to 7-1 in his career against the White Sox as Cubs manager.
The Cubs have lost four of their past five games, getting outscored 38-20 over that span.
Rookie right-hander Cade Horton (3-3. 4.04 ERA) will start for the Cubs on Saturday as he aims to beat the White Sox for the second time this season.
Horton defeated the visiting South Siders on May 16, scattering three runs and seven hits in five innings with zero walks and two strikeouts in a 13-3 victory. He proved susceptible to the long ball in that game, yielding a pair of home runs to Miguel Vargas, but he has allowed only one homer in 17 1/3 innings over three July starts.
Horton took a no-decision against Boston on Sunday, spacing two hits in 5 2/3 innings while walking three and striking out four. The Cubs lost 6-1.
Cubs left fielder Ian Happ called Horton’s mentality “really impressive,” adding that the attribute shows in his ability to keep hitters guessing.
“The pitch mix is really, really good,” said Happ, who logged the Cubs’ only RBI of that game on Sunday. “The changeup has really gotten good against lefties, kind of neutralizing them with the fastball command.”
Right-hander Aaron Civale (2-6, 4.76 ERA) will start for the White Sox on Sunday. He’s aiming to win consecutive starts for the first time this season after defeating host Pittsburgh in a 7-2 game on Sunday behind six strong innings, scattering three hits and one unearned run with one walk and six strikeouts.
Civale is 0-0 with a 1.61 ERA in four career starts against the Cubs covering 22 1/3 innings, with 16 strikeouts and 18 hits allowed.
White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. (sore adductor) was out of the lineup on Friday but was available to pinch hit. Manager Will Venable said the team is hopeful he will return to the lineup Saturday. Robert is riding a nine-game hitting streak and is batting .351 in July.