By Dave Van Dyck, Chicago Tribune –
CHICAGO — One was hoping to hang on to first place and one was hopelessly buried in the basement.
And it seems not many cared, as an all-time low of 33,215 came to U.S. Cellular Field to watch the Cubs clobber the White Sox 12-3, breaking the record set earlier this year at Wrigley Field.
This is Round 2 of the City Series — or more appropriately Monday, the Windy City series — although fans might see it more as testing ground.
(PHOTO: Chicago Cubs second baseman Luis Valbuena (24) hits a three-run homer against the Chicago White Sox during the seventh inning at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois, on Monday June 18, 2012.)
The Central-leading White Sox were seen as treating this series against the Central-trailing Cubs as a chance to rest their best pitchers, instead starting Zach Stewart.
And the Cubs were getting ready for the future by starting Bryan LaHair in right field and David DeJesus in center while Steve Clevenger was keeping first base warm for the soon-to-happen promotion of top prospect Anthony Rizzo.
It was hardly the stuff of past City Series, which have included fist fights and suspensions.
“It’s been pretty calm the last few years,” Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski said.
It was pretty calm at the beginning of Monday night as well, as less than a capacity crowd watched at U.S. Cellular Field.
That all changed in the top of the third, when Starlin Castro poked a two-out single and LaHair followed with a 404-foot home run. He also made a nice running catch in right field in the first inning.
Two innings later Castro was back with his own two-run homer and Alfonso Soriano followed that with a 440-footer into the center field greenery.
Pierzynski finally got the Sox into the act in the fifth inning with a solo homer that closed the Cubs lead to 5-1. That was immediately negated by a left-field shot by Geovany Soto, fresh off the disabled list.
The Sox tried again to climb back into it, with Paul Konerko just clearing the center field wall with Gordon Beckham aboard in the sixth inning, making it 6-3. That’s when the game took a sudden turn to the North when the Cubs scored six runs in the seventh inning.
Former Cub Will Ohman started the inning by hitting leadoff hitter DeJesus, who was also hit in the inning by Hector Santiago. That’s the kind of inning it was.
Even the two managers are friendly old teammates, although the Cubs’ Robin Ventura claims he doesn’t feel sorry for Dale Sveum’s plight of having baseball’s worst team.
“He’s a big boy,” Ventura said. “You wish the best for him. You understand the job and what it is. He’ll come out standing on the other side of this because he’ a good baseball person; he’s a good guy.”
Ventura can’t be blamed for feeling his oats. His Sox having swept the Cubs in the first series at Wrigley Field.
This one at U.S. Cellular Field holds more importance for the Sox than it does for the Cubs, who placed their best pitcher, Ryan Dempster, on the disabled list Monday. But it still holds intrigue.
“They’re different than any other game of the season,” Sveum said. “It’s a unique series — actually, two series. There’s more to it than what people think. They are different games, a different atmosphere. Everything’s different.”
