The Crosstown Classic is one of the most anticipated sporting events in the city Chicago. This series is for annual bragging rights to the city, in other words, you don’t want to be on the losing end of this thing.
A quick wikipedia search will tell you all you need to know about this series’ history. The South Siders were victorious in the last meeting between the two rivals 7-0. The South Siders also lead the series in overall wins and regular season wins. However, the Cubs have many things to be proud of as well. Outside of the rivalry, the North Siders have ten more league pennants, seven more playoff appearances, and five more World Series appearances than their rivals to the South.
These teams also both have much longer histories than most of their fellow teams in their respective leagues and the Cubs have been around since about 1867 and the White Sox since 1901. This series has a ton of history that fans can utilize if they so desire, however, most solely care about the most recent success of the two teams.
The Cubs are coming off of a series loss to the Reds in Cincinnati. The Cubs were able to sneak a victory away from the Reds in extra innings on Sunday, but with the first two games already lost it only was a solid addition to the win column at the end of the day. The series loss to a division rival such as the Reds has also not helped their bid to get out of the cellar as they now sit at 19-30 and last in the NL Central division. However, not all hope is lost as the Cubs currently have the biggest in discrepancy in Pythagorean Wins and Losses which is a statistic that is used to show how many games a team should have won and lost based on the amount of runs they have scored.
According to this statistic the Cubs should in fact be 23-26, good for fourth place in the division and 9.5 games back of the leading Cardinals. The Cubs will look to trounce the White Sox in order to boost their standing a bit in the NL Central, however if they can’t I’m sure another high draft pick wouldn’t bother most fans.
The White Sox are in a completely different boat than that of the Cubs. Coming off of a sweep of the last place Marlins, the South Siders are right back in the thick of things in the AL Central race. After deciding to go “All In” in 2011 and miserably failing.
The White Sox were able to outperform expectations in 2012 and place second in the AL Central after a second half collapse, which allowed Detroit to be crowned the division champs. In the offseason the Pale Hose resigned Jake Peavy and decided to give the division another solid run in 2013.
After an abysmal start, the Sox find themselves only four games back of Cleveland after winning the last nine of twelve games. The White Sox will look to continue to win games against their Crosstown rivals in order to continue to rise in the standings, beating their rivals won’t hurt much either. However, unlike the Cubs, it seems the White Sox are playing for the playoffs, or trying to at least. The four game set will feature a lot of good pitching so fans should expect some low scoring, but exciting games.
Game 1 6:10 pm @ US Cellular Field
Jeff Samardzija 2-6, 3.25 ERA v. Jose Quintana 3-1, 3.48 ERA
The Cubs send their young ace to the mound, while the Sox send the Pride of Colombia to oppose him.
Game 2 7:10 pm @ US Cellular Field
Edwin Jackson 1-7, 6.11 ERA v. Chris Sale 5-2, 2.53 ERA
Former White Sox, Edwin Jackson takes on the current ace, Chris Sale.
Game 3 1:20 pm @ Wrigley Field
John Danks 0-0, 4.50 ERA v. Scott Feldman 4-4, 2.80 ERA
Fully rehabbed John Danks will make his second start against former another former Ranger Scott Feldman, who has been quietly good for the Cubbies.
Game 4 1:20 pm @Wrigley Field
Jake Peavy 6-2, 2.97 ERA v. Travis Wood 4-3, 2.73 ERA
Jake Peavy, who was almost dealt to the Cubs while with San Diego, will face off against Travis Wood, another unsung hero of the Cubs pitching staff this year.
Samardzija leads Cubs to win in crosstown opener
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