The Cubs’ Miguel Amaya threw up his hands as he headed back to first base, having just given his team the lead in an eventual 3-1 win Saturday against the White Sox.
Before his two-run single, he’d already fouled off pitches, one on a bunt attempt, in the at-bat. Behind in the count, he turned on a slider and drove it into shallow left field.
It was the first game of a four-game season series that didn’t end in a 7-6 Cubs win. And with the win, the Cubs swept the Crosstown Classic across a pair of two-game series.
The Sox scored first, in a sloppy defensive second inning. Leading off the inning, Miguel Vargas hit a grounder to the right side of the infield. Ranging into the gap, second baseman Nico Hoerner got to it in time but botched the transfer for an error.
The Sox moved Vargas to third with a single and a fielder’s choice. Then Brooks Baldwin hit a line drive into the left-field gap. Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong looked like he might have had the better play on the ball, but he slowed, and Ian Happ made an unsuccessful diving attempt.
Vargas likely would have scored whether or not the ball had been caught, but the communication miscue extended the inning. Cubs starter Justin Steele struck out Lenyn Sosa and induced Luis Robert Jr. to fly out to get out of it.
The Cubs tied the score on a more head-scratching mistake. With Cody Bellinger on first, Isaac Paredes hit a deep line drive into left field. Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi played the bounce off the wall and fired the ball to his cutoff, shortstop Brooks Baldwin, as Bellinger turned home.
Inexplicably, Baldwin caught the ball and turned to second base instead of home plate. Bellinger scored unchallenged, as Baldwin held onto the ball.