Miscues prove costly for White Sox in series finale vs. Cubs

CHICAGO -- This three-game weekend series against the Cubs meant a little something extra to many of the White Sox players.

From May 16-18, the Cubs took three straight at Wrigley Field from their rivals, outscoring the White Sox, 26-8. But this was a different White Sox crew, from the point of roster construction to their dominant record since the All-Star break. It was a chance to earn redemption while continuing to move forward.

So how did the White Sox perform overall? Their 5-4 loss Sunday, giving the Cubs the series win and a 5-1 mark in the season series, featured a solid late comeback punctuated by Andrew Benintendi’s three-run homer off Ryan Brasier with two outs in the eighth. Daniel Palencia shut down the White Sox in the ninth, only allowing Luis Robert Jr. to reach base after he was hit in the right forearm with two outs.

It also was one of their least crisp showings since they restarted action after the All-Star break.

“We lost the series, so obviously we're not happy,” said White Sox manager Will Venable, whose team fell to 38-68 this season. “We thought coming in we put ourselves in a good position. You win the first one, you like your chances to get one of the next two to win the series.”

They not only won the opener by a 12-5 margin but hit Cubs ace Shota Imanaga almost as hard as he’s been hit during his two strong years with the team. Cade Horton shut down the White Sox on Saturday, and Ben Brown, who has good raw stuff but entered with a 6.48 ERA this season, held the host squad to Benintendi’s first-inning, first-pitch homer and no more runs over five innings.

Then there were the costly miscues. In the bottom of the third, with runners on first and second and one out, second baseman Nico Hoerner let Chase Meidroth’s popup drop near him. Meidroth was out via the infield fly rule, but when Lenyn Sosa advanced from second to third base at his own risk, which he’s allowed to do, Hoerner threw him out.

“That’s a play we talk about a lot, and he just got stuck. A little bit of a mental error there where he didn’t see the call being made,” Venable said. “That’s kind of an automatic one where you know that ball is out. He’s got to do a better job on that, and he knows that, and we discussed it.”

With Ian Happ on second and Hoerner on first and two outs in the eighth, catcher Edgar Quero caught Hoerner off first on a back-pick. First baseman Miguel Vargas ran Hoerner toward second, but as the rundown unfolded, Happ kept running around third.

A high throw from reliever Mike Vasil eventually went home to Quero, who chased Happ back to third and threw the ball to third baseman Colson Montgomery. Happ initiated contact with Montgomery, as the ball dropped, with Montgomery being called for interference and Happ scoring.

“First of all, nice job on the back-pick, but Vargy’s got to get him going, Sosa’s got to cut the distance,” Venable said. “Obviously you can’t have an obstruction call. We’ve got to do a better job on the second rundown, too. We know if you don’t execute plays like that, it’s going to hurt you.

“Today was a good example of that. It’s a big play. It’s a big run.”

Grant Taylor (0-2) opened and allowed two runs in the first, followed by a solid bulk showing from Sean Burke, who matched a career high with eight strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings and 91 pitches. Burke was happy with his stuff but frustrated by a two-out run-scoring single from Hoerner and the ensuing run-scoring double from Matt Shaw, who played collegiately with Burke at Maryland, keeping him from finishing the sixth.

Burke stressed to MLB.com earlier this week the personal importance within this Cubs’ outing, after he got beat on May 17 at Wrigley Field and felt as if he beat himself more than the Cubs. The right-hander has built up greater mound effectiveness since that setback and knows the team has improved as well.

“We’re playing a lot better ball lately and we all care about this game a lot,” Burke said. “We know the fanbases care about it a lot. It’s a sense of pride being able to beat them.

“It’s frustrating not being able to get it done this year, but luckily, we see them next year and the year after. We’ll have to keep playing better and keep improving as a team so when we see them again, we are able to play a lot better and go out there and win those series.”