CHICAGO _ Yu Darvish shut down the Chicago White Sox for the second time this season, leading the Cubs to a 10-0 victory Friday in the City Series at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Darvish allowed three hits and struck out five in seven innings as the Cubs snapped a three-game losing streak and lowered their magic number for clinching the National League Central to one.
The Sox fell 1 { games behind the first-place Minnesota Twins, who trailed the Cincinnati Reds 6-2 in the ninth. The Sox are tied for second with the Cleveland Indians, who rallied to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3. The Indians hold the tiebreaker, which would mean the Sox would earn an AL wild-card spot.
The Cubs hit five homers, three off of Sox starter Dylan Cease.
Cease allowed solo homers to Kyle Schwarber and Javier Baez and a three-run blast to Willson Contreras _ who followed with an epic bat flip. Victor Caratini added a two-run homer off Gio Gonzalez as the Sox (34-24) lost their sixth straight, extending a season-high slide.
Sox reliever Jimmy Cordero, manager Rick Renteria and pitching coach Don Cooper were ejected after Cordero hit Contreras with a pitch in the in the seventh.
Contreras hit his second homer of the game, a solo shot off infielder Yolmer Sanchez, in the ninth.
The Sox and Cubs (33-25) are both playoff-bound. But both entered the City Series scuffling.
Darvish got the Cubs going back in the right direction. He allowed singles to Tim Anderson and Luis Robert and a double to Adam Engel. Robert broke an 0-for-29 streak with his fifth-inning single.
Schwarber hit a solo home run on a 3-2 fastball in the second inning. Contreras made it 4-0 with his three-run shot on a 1-1 fastball with two outs in the third. He tossed his bat high as he started his way to first.
Baez homered on an 0-1 fastball leading off the fourth.
Cease, who is in the running to start if the first-round playoff series goes to a Game 3, allowed five runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks in 4 2/3 innings.
Caratini's two-run homer came in the sixth.
Cordero hit Contreras on the first pitch of his seventh-inning at-bat. After the umpires had a discussion, Cordero was thrown out of the game. Renteria and Cooper argued the ejection and also were tossed.
It was Renteria's third time getting ejected this week.
