Cade Horton Tames Chicago White Sox Lineup As Cubs Win 6-1

CHICAGO –– Something had to give as Cade Horton faced a scorching hot White Sox lineup Saturday at Rate Field.

After a 12-5 win on Friday, the White Sox entered the Game 2 of the Crosstown Series ranked first or second in MLB in runs scored (61), runs per game (8.7), run differential (plus-33), slugging percentage (.544), OPS (.909), hits (80), batting average (.307), on-base percentage (.365) and doubles (23). 

But they had a tough test against the Cubs’ rookie right-hander, who posted shutouts in two of his last three starts. What began as a pitchers’ duel between Horton and White Sox starter Aaron Civale played out in the Cubs favor, ending with a 6-1 win.

Horton put two runners on in the first inning, but he was near-flawless after that, retiring 15 of the next 18 batters. Mike Tauchman’s home run in the ninth represented the lone run in an otherwise slow night at the plate for the White Sox.. Horton finished with 6.1 shutout innings, four hits, one walk and three strikeouts. 

“Just couldn’t get anything going,” White Sox manager Will Venabel said. “Outside of Tauch’s homer, our best chance to score there was the first inning, and got the Vargy double play. Horton did a nice job with the fastball, kind of had us on our heels. I didn’t think we made the adjustment that we needed to to get on the heater, and he beat us all day.”

That made for Horton’s best four-start stretch of the season, posting a 1.52 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP across 23.2 innings. Since the beginning of July, he has three shutouts in four tries and a 17-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Colson Montgomery’s three-game home run streak came to an end against Horton and the Cubs, but he doesn’t want the White Sox to lose sight of how well they’ve played recently after one quiet night.

“Honestly I felt like tonight we were putting good swings on the ball,” Montgomery said. “We were getting in good hitters counts. You can look back and see there were a lot of times where we hit it and they were right there. Last night, a lot was falling for us. Tonight sometimes it just doesn’t go our way. I think if we continue to keep doing what we are doing, things will keep staying consistent.”

Saturday’s loss matched the White Sox largest margin of defeat since July 8, despite it being a close game for a while. Civale retired a career-high 11 batters to start the game, and he didn’t allow a hit until there were two outs in the fourth inning, when Seiya Suzuki singled to the opposite field. 

The Cubs entered Saturday ranked second in MLB in runs scored this season, but Civale shut them out across five innings zero walks, a season-low tying three hits and a season-high tying six strikeouts. He also credited White Sox rookie catcher Kyle Teel for a good game plan.

The White Sox acquired Civale in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers for first baseman Andrew Vaughn in June. While he wasn’t at his best to begin his White Sox tenure, Civale has thrown 11 combined innings with zero earned runs over his last two starts. 

"Comfort is part of it,” Civale said of his turnaround. “Just getting used to the guys you're throwing to, the game plan going into it. But just some delivery adjustments and some cues that we're working and letting everything else take care of itself after that."

Though Civale threw just 69 pitches –– one away from his season-low across 13 starts –– Venable went to left-hander Tyler Alexander against a lefty-heavy top of the Cubs’ lineup. Alexander pitched a scoreless inning, lowering his ERA to 2.24.

“It was a really good spot for Alexander. He’s been outstanding,” Venable said. “Just felt like Aaron had done his job, and he was great, too. That was as good as we’ve seen him. Really the last three starts, I feel like have been really good. And tonight, especially with the curveball, had good command of the fastball and cutter was really nice from Aaron.”

But after Alexander’s exit, the Cubs were all over the White Sox bullpen. Jordan Leasure gave up the game’s first three runs in the seventh on home runs by Ian Happ and Matt Shaw, who extended his hitting streak to a career-high eight games. Tyler Gilbert and Dan Altavilla were credited with three earned runs in the eighth, as a scoreless tie quickly ballooned to a 6-0 Cubs lead.

With this win, the Cubs evened the Crosstown Series at one win apiece. Grant Taylor will serve as the opener in the Sunday’s series finale, likely followed by Sean Burke, the previously scheduled starter. For the Cubs, it’s Ben Brown, who has allowed 14 earned runs in his last two appearances, spanning nine innings.