Game Thread: Cubs (29-17) at White Sox (23-22)

On June 9, 2008, the world’s eyes were trained on Steve Jobs as he got up on a stage to announce the release of the iPhone 3G, the first “new model year” of what we didn’t know at the time was the most important technological innovation of the 21st century. A little under three weeks later, Mark Buehrle threw seven one-run innings to complete a Sox sweep of the Cubs at then-U.S. Cellular Field to maintain a slim one-game lead in the AL Central.

Between that Buehrle win and last Friday, Apple released upwards of 50 new models of the iPhone. The White Sox and the Cubs, meanwhile, did not play a single game in which both team had a winning record. Now, after a pause of close to two decades, it’s happening twice in a single weekend, as last night’s raucous win gives the Sox yet another chance to push their record to two games over .500 for the first time since September 2022’s weird little post-TLR dead cat bounce under Miguel Cairo.

While last Thursday’s series-ending lineup was constructed as if the top half of Will Venable’s roster sheet had gotten cut off, he’s going for the jugular this time, sending out the closest thing the Sox have to an “A” lineup in an attempt to snatch what could, no joke, be the team’s biggest series win — in terms of broad momentum and long-term development, at least — since 2021’s division title season.

This will be the eighth time in nine games that Antonacci, Murakami, Vargas, Montgomery, and Meidroth have graced the top five spots in that order, which seems even more remarkable to me than the stat about the two teams going nearly two decades without having winning records at the time of the Cup. Seriously, can anybody remember the last time the Sox had a group of hitters that gelled enough that it made sense to slot them in the exact same spot for more than a week straight?

“This is just me, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Sam Antonacci in the leadoff spot is something we’re going to get used to for the rest of the summer.” That was just me then, and it’s still me now. If this is a roster core that winds up doing some real damage long-term, I suspect there will be a time in which we look back at Antonacci’s promotion as a turning point in the team’s identity. They’re 16-11 since he made his debut on April 15, and for the first time since Tim Anderson’s heyday the White Sox have someone with a true knack for playing sparkplug and catalyst at the top of a lineup; unlike Anderson, Antonacci actually has the OBP-oriented profile you actually expect to see out of the leadoff spot.

Of course, it won’t matter all that much if Erick Fedde doesn’t have much in the way of stuff today against this admittedly formidable Cubs lineup:

In other news before the afternoon’s rubber match, it unfortunately sounds as if we’ll have to wait just a little bit longer to hear from Kyle Teel, who seems to have suffered a (hopefully small) setback on the back part of his rehab assignment:

If there’s been any saving grace to the Sox recent futility, it’s that while a critical component of the Chicago Bears’ post-2012 collapse was getting absolutely obliterated by the Packers in what had previously been an extremely balanced historical matchup, the South Siders have at least managed to roughly keep pace with their North Side counterparts during the trials and tribulations of the post-Ozzie era. Whoever wins this game will take an 80-79 lead in the currently-tied all-time interleague series.

First pitch is scheduled for at 1:10 p.m. CT, live from Rate. If you want to join us, you have the Sox side of the broadcast on CHSN and WMVP 1000 AM. See you there!