You know what isn’t great? Aside from the White Sox, of course. It’s when your ace gives up a home run to start the game. And then another in the same inning, this time a two-run homer. Oh, and facing seven batters before escaping the inning. The White Sox could only muster a single from Nicky Lopez in the bottom of the first inning.

The second stayed relatively quiet. Pete Crow Armstrong started the inning with a triple but was left stranded after a series of strikeouts. Gavin Sheets started with a double, but a foul out to short, strikeout, and grounder would leave him stranded as well.

All hell broke loose in the top of the third. After Seiya Suzuki grounded out to third, Cody Bellinger singled to left. The new enemy of the Sox, Isaac Paredes, hit a two-run homer followed by a solo run from Nico Hoerner. What once felt like a bit of a climb for the Sox was suddenly Mount Everest. Dansby Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong had back-to-back singles. Swanson made it to third and Crow-Armstrong stole second. Miguel Amaya grounded to short, but it was enough to send Swanson home for a 6-0 lead.

Grady Sizemore made his first mound visit to pull Garrett Crochet. He made it just 2 1/3 innings with nine hits, seven earned runs, four home runs, no walks, five strikeouts, and 45 of 67 pitches for strikes with 21 called strikes/whiffs.

Nicky Lopez, the only one able to hit a ball thus far, managed a double. Alas, he was stranded.

Touki Toussaint, who came in for Crochet, stunned Cubs batters by striking out three and only allowing a single in the fourth.

The White Sox bats woke up a little as Andrew Vaughn ended the shutout with a leadoff homer.

Gavin Sheets, Korey Lee, and Dominic Fletcher all singled with just one out. Fletcher sent Sheets home.

Little Brooks Baldwin grounded out but would also bring in a runner to slowly chip away at the Cubs’ lead. Lopez drove in run No. 16 to cut the lead to just three by sending Fletcher home. Lopez is now 3-3 with an RBI.

Luis Robert Jr. ended what could have been an even better inning by striking out. Woof.

Hoerner started the fifth with a single and TRIED to steal second. But not with Korey Lee is watching. Crow-Armstrong also singled and wanted to be a menace on the base paths. He might be fast, but apparently, Andrew Benintendi’s arm is faster? A missle from left got Crow-Armstrong out at the plate and wow, it was a beaut.

Benintendi didn’t stop there. He hit a leadoff home run to open the bottom of the fifth and put the game back within reach at 7-5, the Cubs only leading by two now.

Toussaint continued to mow down batters before exiting during the sixth at 57 pitches and a combined 11 strikeouts. Despite a small threat, the White Sox kept the Cubs off the board.

Lee goes 2-for-3 with a leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth. Sadly, the Cubs remembered how he was behind the plate and wanted payback by catching him stealing. The inning ended on a dropped third strike.

Justin Anderson the White Sox defense pulled off an easy 1-2-3 inning. Drew Smyly came in for the Cubs and gave up Benintendi’s second home run of the night. Yes, you read that right.

The eighth was quite uneventful for both teams. John Brebbia came out for the ninth and managed to retire the batters in order.

The Sox entered the bottom of the ninth down by a run and at the bottom of the order. Fletcher started with a single to right. Baldwin put down the perfect bunt and both runners are safe. Lopez and Robert popped out and with two on and two outs, Benintendi stepped up to the plate. He loaded the bases by taking ball four and wearing Héctor Neris down after a long at-bat. Vaughn left the bases loaded, because of course.

In a game that appeared to be over in the third inning, the White Sox battled it out to the very end. There were signs of life for the first time all season, making me thing Grady’s boys don’t quit.