Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (8/6/21): White Sox 8, Cubs 6 F/10 – Unlikely Romine Homer Not Enough in Loss

The Cubs welcomed their crosstown rivals and some old friends as the White Sox came to Wrigley for a three game series starting Friday afternoon. The home team fell behind early before staging a highly unlikely rally to tie the score, but it was not enough as the Sox pulled out an extra-innings win.

Kyle Hendricks and Lance Lynn were sharp from the outset and neither team produced anything the first three innings. The White Sox jumped ahead with a four-single outburst in the 4th inning as Andrew Vaughn and Seby Zavala each had RBI knocks to make it 2-0.

David Bote cut the lead in half with a sacrifice fly in the 7th, then the White Sox bounced right back with a two-run homer from Cesar Hernandez off of Kyle Ryan. A 4-1 8th inning lead with Craig Kimbrel and Liam Hendriks coming in looked very secure for the Sox.

A less-than-dirty Kimbrel allowed a pair of singles in the bottom of the 8th and then, amazingly, gave up a three-run home run to Andrew Romine — his first in the bigs since 2017 — to tie the score.

The game then moved to extra innings where young reliever Manuel Rodriguez ran into trouble in the 10th. The White Sox jumped all over him for four runs, with the big blow coming on a two-run dinger from Brian Goodwin. Frank Schwindel hit a homer in the bottom of the frame but the Sox held on for an 8-6 victory. (Box score)

Why the Cubs Lost

The bullpen did exactly what it was supposed to, and that is give up runs. They are very much aiding in the tanking process.

Key Moment 

Romine’s home run was just his 11th career jack and the first he’s hit in four years. The three runs Kimbrel allowed on the play were more than the two he gave up all season as a Cub.

Stats That Matter

• Hendricks was good and had a quality start: 6 IP, 2 R, 7 H, 7 K, and 3 BB. He avoided the loss, so he still has not lost a game since May.
• Rafael Ortega got a hit to extend his streak to eight games.
• Greg Deichmann got his first career hit, so congrats to him.

Bottom Line

The Cubs are gonna lose a lot of games down the stretch and I would rather young guys like Rodriguez are allowed to try and fail. It’s a good time to figure out who can be productive going forward.

On Deck

Game two of the series is Saturday at 1:20pm CT as Adbert Alzolay takes on lefty Carlos Rodón in a contest airing on Marquee Sports Network and 670 The Score.