The first meeting of 2023 between the Cubs and White Sox was all Cubs.
Before the first sellout crowd of the season at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Cubs cracked three home runs against Sox starting pitcher Michael Kopech, added another against reliever Jesse Scholtens and took a homer away from Yoan Moncada in a 7-3 victory before 37,079 fans.
Moncada, in his first game back from the injured list, was robbed of a grand slam by right fielder Seiya Suzuki in the seventh inning as the Sox, who were out-hit at one point by a 12-1 margin, tried getting back in the game against Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks.
The Sox would settle for two runs in the inning and trailed 7-3 in the eighth inning.
Coming off a 6-4 home stand and looking to get within two games of .500, the Cubs also stole five bases against Kopech (4-9) and Scholtens and catcher Yasmani Grandal. The Sox were headed for their fourth straight loss and 12th in the last 16, trying to avoid falling a season low 20 games below .500.
Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson homered his first two times up against Kopech, the eighth multi-homer game of his career. Christopher Morel followed Swanson’s first homer with his 16th of the season in a three-run second. Nico Hoerner homered against Scholtens in the seventh. Swanson and Hoerner had three hits each.
The Cubs stole four bases on Kopech, who allowed five runs (four earned) on nine hits and one walk. He struck out five. The unearned run was chalked up to shortstop Tim Anderson’s throwing error before Swanson’s first homer.
Hendricks (4-4) retired the first 12 Sox hitters before Eloy Jimenez led off the fifth inning with a double. Two ground balls to first base, including Andrew Vaughn’s for an RBI, got Jimenez home to make it 5-1.
Vaughn, playing after missing four games with a bone bruise on his left foot, drove in another run with an infield single following Moncada’s sacrifice fly on Suzuki’s leaping catch.
Hendricks allowed three runs on four hits in 6 1⁄3 innings.
The Sox had a mini-threat going in the ninth when Luis Robert Jr. walked and Jimenez singled against Michael Fulmer, but Adbert Alzolay entered and struck out Moncada, Vaughn and Grandal to end it and record his 10th save.
The Cubs are 66-73 all-time in Crosstown Classic matchups against the Sox. The teams play again Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate and again on Aug. 15-16 at Wrigley Field.
