Dansby Swanson had two hits hours after his wife won an Olympic gold medal. Miguel Amaya hit a two-run single in the eighth inning to break a tie, helping the Chicago Cubs beat the White Sox 3-1 on Saturday night and finish a two-game sweep.
In the eighth inning, Nico Hoerner walked to start the inning against Chad Kuhl (0-2) and advanced to second base on Swanson’s single.
Pete Crow-Armstrong moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt, and Amaya then hit a two-run single to give the Cubs a 3-1 lead and secure their eighth win in ten games.
Swanson had a memorable day with two singles, bringing his career hit total to 1,001, and scored a run. This happened just hours after his wife, Mallory, scored the only goal in the U.S. women’s soccer team’s victory over Brazil for the Olympic gold medal.
“Probably a day they’ll never forget,” Cody Bellinger said. “His wife scores the game-winning goal in a gold match and he gets his 1,000th career hit all in the same day. That’s a pretty special day right there.”
Justin Steele pitched six innings, giving up one unearned run and six hits. The left-hander struck out eight batters and walked two.
Porter Hodge (1-1) retired all three batters he faced in the seventh inning. Jorge López managed to get through the eighth inning by striking out Korey Lee and Corey Julks, despite allowing a single and a walk.
Héctor Neris closed the game with a scoreless ninth inning for his 17th save in 21 attempts. He made an error on a throw covering first base, allowing Brooks Baldwin to reach base, but then retired the next three batters, completing a four-game season sweep of the White Sox.
The Cubs (59-60) are now in a position to reach a .500 record for the first time since June 5, when they beat the White Sox at Wrigley Field to even their record at 31-31.
“We played a good series,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We took care of business. We won two games. … We dug ourselves a hole. We’re trying to dig out of it. We’re trying to put ourselves within striking distance here. Just keep playing good baseball. There’s time. But we got to play good baseball and we know we don’t have much room for error.”
