White Sox give Cubs a booming wake-up call in rivalry smackdown

New York Times

26-07-2025

CHICAGO — There was a vase of flowers and a picture of the late Chicago sports-radio host Harry Teinowitz displayed at a Rate Field press box seat Friday night, and the classy gesture by the White Sox reminded me of a story that Teinowitz, who passed away on July 15, loved to tell.
In 2005, Teinowitz was in Houston with his radio show when the Sox finished off a four-game sweep of the Astros in the World Series. According to Teinowitz, when Jerry Reinsdorf saw him after the game, the first thing he did was needle him about the Cubs.
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So if you're wondering why Reinsdorf is hanging onto the Sox for more years despite an agreement to sell, maybe a sliver of the reason is for nights like Friday when the Sox absolutely embarrassed their crosstown rivals at a most inopportune time.
I hope Jerry lit a victory cigar because those haven't gotten much burn in the past few years.
It was a smoke 'em if you got 'em kind of night for the White Sox, who destroyed the Cubs 12-5 in front of a lively bipartisan crowd on the South Side.
The Sox had lost eight straight and 10 of 11 to the Cubs. Some would say they were due.
Chase Meidroth slugs a leadoff homer 😤 pic.twitter.com/vKpw4g4x57
— MLB (@MLB) July 25, 2025
And as much as we try to build it up every year, we all know the importance of Cubs-Sox has waned significantly since the feistier days of the rivalry, but we can call this a statement win for tried-and-true Sox fans, who have suffered through an abysmal four-year stretch since that rare playoff appearance in 2021.
The Sox (38-66) have won six of seven since the All-Star break, none sweeter than this one.
For the Cubs (60-43), the pain of this loss had nothing to do with the opponent. It was both a missed opportunity and a poor effort in all facets of the game.
The first-place Brewers lost earlier in the day, so the Cubs not only blew a chance to even up the NL Central, but they also weren't even competitive as Shota Imanaga got rocked, the defense struggled and the hitters were somnolent until the game was out of reach.
The Sox led 11-0 until Cubs catcher Reese McGuire's three-run homer in the seventh.
If I were general manager Chris Getz, I would have called down and banned starter Adrian Houser from even coming out for that inning. He had just thrown 60 pitches in six scoreless innings against one of the most feared lineups in the game. He's their biggest trade chip. What else did he have to prove?
Houser, who left the game one batter after giving up the homer, still has a 2.10 ERA. With a minimal salary, he could be one of the biggest steals at the deadline, and Getz has a potential buyer in Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, who should be the busiest shopper in baseball.
This is a Cubs team in desperate need of a blockbuster trade deadline, especially on the pitching front. Hoyer might need to get his team two starting pitchers, two relievers, a third baseman and a pinch hitter.
And trust me, his core players are just as interested as the rest of you in what's going to happen in the next week. They know they need help for the stretch run and in October. It couldn't be more evident.
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The Cubs have dropped four of five, which is about as bad of a run as they've had all season. They'll likely have another bullpen game Sunday before going to Milwaukee for a big three-game series, given that there are only eight games left between the teams.
With everything at stake, I can't imagine Hoyer is sleeping well. What happened Friday night didn't help.
The Sox have been hitting everything since the All-Star break, a small sample size that still had its boosters in a tizzy, and they shelled Imanaga from the second pitch he threw, which was a Chase Meidroth leadoff homer to left field. Imanaga gave up a homer to rookie Colson Montgomery in the second.
COLSON MONTGOMERY FOR THE THIRD STRAIGHT GAME 🤯 pic.twitter.com/8rA0XGnIpn
— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) July 26, 2025
Imanaga was charged with seven runs on 12 hits, including three homers, in three innings. The Sox added another four runs off Imanaga's replacement, Chris Flexen, who started for their cursed 2024 team.
Imanaga's velocity was down and his location wasn't sharp. He didn't walk a batter, but the Sox were feasting off him in the zone. He gave up 12 hits, most of which were pretty well-struck.
This was Imanaga's sixth start since he missed nearly two months with a hamstring strain and it was by far his worst. As the Sox battered him, I was sure he was hurt or had a blister or something to explain it. But he said after the game that wasn't the case. He just stunk.
'Post-injury, the velo has been a little lower than usual, so that's something I need to work on, and physically, condition-wise, there's stuff I need to improve on as well,' he said through an interpreter.
'It just shows the fine line of pitching in the big leagues and what success and struggles look like,' manager Craig Counsell said. 'It's hard to believe that's the pitcher you saw the last two times make a start.'
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For the Cubs, it seems like we've been talking about the trade deadline since we realized they really were good back in the spring, and now it's almost here, and maybe it's not just about supplementing the roster as Hoyer has stressed. This team needs help.
They came to the South Side to try to get another sweep over their rivals. But what they got Friday night was a wake-up call, and it was as loud as the fireworks they set off after a Sox victory.
(Photo of Chase Meidroth: Matt Marton / Imagn Images)