Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (5/4/22): White Sox 4, Cubs 3 – Cubs Squander Late Chances After Surrendering Lead

The Cubs wrapped up a brief two-game series against the White Sox at Wrigley Field Wednesday night. Things followed a familiar script as offensive issues once again led to a loss and a mini-sweep by the Southsiders.

Jose Abreu gave the Sox an early lead with a solo homer off of Kyle Hendricks in the top of the 1st inning. The Cubs stormed back on Lucas Giolito in the 2nd thanks to a two-run Nico Hoerner dinger followed by a Patrick Wisdom solo jack (watch both here).

The road team immediately began chipping away at the 3-1 lead. Leury Garcia hit an unexpected home run in the 3rd. A 4th inning shift-beating RBI-single from Gavin Sheets tied the score. Another softly hit AJ Pollock bloop single gave the Sox a one-run 5th inning advantage.

Both teams had excellent chances late in the game but were unable to score and the Cubs went down to a 4-3 defeat. (Box score)

Why the Cubs Lost

A combination of bad luck and bad at-bats cost the Cubs when they had chances with runners on base.

Key Moment

The Cubs had men on first and third with nobody out in the bottom of the 8th inning. Yan Gomes lined out, Seiya Suzuki popped out, and Ian Happ struck out looking to strand the runners.

Stats That Matter

• Hendricks was pretty good after the early home runs and was unlucky when some soft contact found holes: 5.2 IP, 4 R, 7 H, 2 K, and 1 BB.
• Wisdom had two hits and made several nice plays at third base.
• Nick Madrigal had two hits, which was nice to see after his recent struggles.

Bottom Line

This rough stretch of schedule is really punishing the Cubs. They just aren’t good enough to play with these playoff-caliber teams and they are getting buried in the standings.

On Deck

Things don’t get any easier for the Cubs as the Dodgers come to Wrigley for three games starting Friday at 1:20pm CT. Chicago has yet to name a starter to take on Tyler Anderson in a game airing on MLB Network (out-of-market only), Marquee Sports Network, and 670 The Score.