Crosstown Classic ends in second consecutive 2-2 tie, Sox take cup

By Scott Nicol

For the second year in a row, the Crosstown Classic ended in a series split (2-2) with the home team winning every game.

As a result, the White Sox retain the coveted Crosstown Cup for the third consecutive year. The teams split the series last year in the same fashion as they did this, with both teams winning two, and the White Sox won three out of four games in 2014. The Sox won the first two games of the series, including their third-straight walk-off win in two days, on Monday, before the Cubs came back and won the final two games of the series at home. The Cubs outscored the Sox 15-10 in the series, in big part to a 8-1 routing on Wednesday.

The majority of the spotlight before the series was focused on ace pitcher Chris Sale, who was suspended July 24 for five days after cutting up the team’s throwback jerseys it was geared to wear the day before against Detroit.

Sale (14-4) started Thursday’s series finale after serving his suspension, and received the loss after going six innings and giving up two runs, both earned with only three strikeouts.

The Cubs unveiled their newly-acquired relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman on Wednesday night — he threw 15 pitches and 13 of them were recorded at 100 miles per hour or faster. Chapman came into the game in the ninth when the Cubs were already up 8-1 so he did not record his first save, however he did so the following evening when he recorded a four-out save, his 21st of the season.

This is the only time the clubs will meet in the regular season with the only hope of a rematch coming in the World Series, otherwise players and fans alike will have to wait until next season to determine a clear-cut winner for the Crosstown Cup.