Crosstown Classic Game 3

Saturday's Cubs 1-0 win was a pitching duel, but Ted Lilly and Gavin Floyd took the meaning of the phrase to a whole new level.
The big story was Ted Lilly's performance, as he took a no hitter into the 9th inning. Juan Pierre, pinch hitting for Floyd, led off the inning with a single. Lilly was taken out after giving up his first and only hit.
Lilly needed 108 pitches to secure the victory, his second highest pitch count of the season. The performance also marked a milestone for Lilly It was the farthest he'd ever taken a no-hitter into a game. His previous best was 7 1/3 inning while pitching for Toronto.
The win, however did not come easy. Carlos Marmol relieved Lilly in the ninth and walked Andruw Jones. With the rain coming down hard, Marmol seemed to lose his footing while delivering a pitch to Alexei Ramirez, and was called for a balk. After striking out Ramirez, Marmol intentionally walked Alex Rios to load the bases with one out.
Paul Konerko hit a soft groundball to Lee at first, who got the force out at home. Marmol then got Carlos Quentin to fly out to center to record his 13th save of the season.
White Sox starting pitcher Gavin Floyd wasn't bad himself, taking a no hitter 6 2/3 before giving up a double to Alfonso Soriano. Chad Tracy followed up with a single up the middle to score the Cubs only run. Floyd went 8 innings, giving up three hits and striking out nine.
With the win, the Cubs broke a three game losing streak. The win was also Lilly's first in his last three starts, despite pitching well in all three. Sunday's win was only Lilly's second win of the year, despite a 2.90 ERA.

Crosstown Classic Game 2

In stark contrast to yesterday's slugfest, Saturday's 2-1 Sox win was a pitching duel. Carlos Silva came up with the short end of the stick, taking his first loss of the season to move to 8-1. Going into Saturday's game, Silva was one of only three undefeated pitchers who made at least 12 starts.
Silva went 7 innings, giving up 2 ER and striking out six. Paul Konerko singled both Sox runs in.
Silva found himself in trouble in the first inning after giving up a one out single to Alexei Ramirez. Alex Rios followed with a single, and Konerko followed with another single to score Ramirez. After striking out Carlos Quentin, Silva hit A.J. Pierzynski to load the bases. He got out of the inning with a Gordon Beckham groundout.
Silva cruised through the next five innnings, but ran into trouble in the 7th by giving up a leadoff walk to Juan Pierre. Pierre then stole second by avoiding Castro's tag. After striking out Ramirez and getting Rios to groundout to third, it appeared that Silva would be able to get out of the inning. That wasn't the case, as Konerko was able to knock in his second run with a ball to right center that Xavier Nady couldn't get to.
Mark Buehrle threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings en route to his fourth win of the season. Buehrle got into a few jams during the course of the game, but always seemed to come up with a big strikeout to bail himself out. Buehrle struck out seven in the game.

The Cubs scored their lone run in the 9th off closer Bobby Jenks. Geovany Soto walked and advanced to second on a Kosuke Fukodome groundout. Ryan Theriot singled to right center to score Soto.
The Cubs had plenty of chances, but were 1-10 with RISP. Marlon Byrd was the Cubs lone bright spot offensively, going 3-4 with a double. Byrd extended his hit streak to nine games.
The Cubs will try to avoid the sweep Sunday night as Ted Lilly (1-5, 3.28 ERA) faces off against Gavin Floyd (2-6, 6.18 ERA).

Crosstown Classic Game 1

Friday's series opener between the Cubs and Sox seemed to be less hyped than it has been in previous years. This is most likely due to the success of the Blackhawks, who haven't been competitive since interleague play took effect in 1997. Friday's lack of excitement certainly didn't have anything to do with the fact that the Cubs came in 6 games under .500 and the Sox 7 under. If anything, this series will surely provide the only thing worth bragging about for either team this season.
The Cubs and Sox didn't play each other six times a year until 1999. Since then, the Cubs have a 31-35 record against the White Sox. The Sox have won five season series, the Cubs two, and they have tied four times. Needless to say, as a Cubs fan, it's hard to expect much.
The two big differences in the Sox 10-5 win were starting pitching and extra base hits. White Sox starter Jake Peavy went 7 innings, giving up only six hits and 2 ER. He was especially effective against batters 1-4 in the order, holding them to a combined 2-11, 1 R, and 0 RBI.
The Cubs Randy Wells had a tougher time, he gave up ten hits through five innings and walked three, accounting for five earned runs. The bullpen didn't do much better, combining for another five earned runs, and six hits.
Warm weather and the wind blowing out provided the makings of a high scoring game. The Sox took advantage of the ideal conditions slugging four home runs and four doubles. The Cubs had one of each.
Many fans showed up wearing Blackhawks jerseys or 2010 Stanley Cup Champions T-Shirts. One can only imagine whether they were showing support for the Hawks or embarrased to be seen supporting their baseball team. But one thing's for sure, there will be a few more Cubs fans sporting their Hawks gear tomorrow.