CHICAGO (AP) — Yu Darvish pitched seven strong innings for his NL-leading eighth win, Willson Contreras homered twice and the Chicago Cubs moved to the brink of clinching the NL Central title by pounding the crosstown White Sox 10-0 Friday night.
Victor Caratini, Kyle Schwarber and Javier Baez also went deep as Cubs used the longball to break out of an offensive funk and end a three-game losing streak. They reduced their magic number for securing the division crown to one game after St. Louis split a doubleheader with Milwaukee.
“I like the homers,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “That's getting back to what these guys do.”
The Cubs entered the game with a .220 team batting average, fourth lowest in the majors, but unloaded against the fading White Sox.
Contreras hit a three-run shot of Dylan Cease (5-4) in the third, then exited the batter’s box with sky-high high bat-flip. He greeted White Sox utility man Yolmer Sanchez, who pitched the ninth, with a solo shot for his eighth career multi-homer game.
“We were on fire and I think we needed it today,” Contreras said. “It's good. We finally wake up.”
The White Sox managed just three hits off Darvish and lost their season high sixth straight. Like the Cubs, the South Siders have secured a playoff spot, but slipped into a tie for second place in the AL Central with Cleveland.
Darvish (8-3), a contender for the NL Cy Young Award, struck out five and walked one as he cruised to his first win since beating the Cardinals on Sept. 4. In three starts prior to Friday, the right-hander from Japan slipped from his earlier groove and was 0-2 with a 4.26 ERA.
“He really established the fastball today, which was a little different than his last couple of times out,” Ross said. “I thought he was really sharp today.”
Baez drove a double into the right-center field gap against Sanchez while batting left-handed, his second time swinging from that side of the plate in his major league career.
The longball once again hurt Cease, who gave up five hits — and three of the Cubs' five homers — in 4 2/3 innings. The 24-year-old righty has allowed 27 homers in 26 career starts.
The White Sox hope to rebound immediately in their final pivotal regular-season series.
“We've had a good season,” Cease said. “The last week hasn’t been good, but other than that we don’t need to panic. We don’t need to lose confidence. We have a lot of good players, so it’s just about bringing it to the park.”
The White Sox played without outfielder Eloy Jiménez, who has a sprained right foot and is likely sidelined for the season-ending series.
Schwarber lofted a full-count pitch just over the left-center wall in the second for this 11th homer and a 1-0 lead.
Contreras muscled a high 1-1 pitch the opposite way to the right field bullpen with two runners aboard in the third to open it to 4-0. It was his sixth home run.
Baez, who entered batting just. 196, led off the fourth with his eighth homer, a solo drive to left-center that made it 5-0.
Caratini added a two-run shot off Gio Gonzalez in the sixth before the Cubs tacked on unearned runs in the seventh and eighth.
BOOTED
White Sox reliever Jimmy Cordero, manager Rick Renteria and pitching coach Don Cooper were ejected by home plate umpire Dan Bellino after Cordero hit Contreras with a pitch in the seventh.
Contreras said he expected to be plunked after his bat flip, although he didn't intend to loft his bat as high as he did.
“I got pumped up,” he said. “I wear my emotions below my sleeves.”
Cordero said hitting Contreras was not intentional and that he just threw a bad pitch.
ROBERT RETURNS
White Sox rookie Luis Robert was back in center field after being rested on Thursday in Cleveland. He singled in the fifth off Darvish to end an 0-for-29 slump.
WISE MOVE
The Cubs selected the contract of INF Patrick Wisdom from their South Bend, Indiana, alternate site and optioned INF/OF José Martinez to South Bend. Wisdom pinch hit in the eighth, flied out and remained in the game at first.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cubs: INF David Bote, who fills in at third behind Kris Bryant, missed Friday’s game with what manager David Ross called a flare-up of an undisclosed minor injury. Nico Hoerner started at third. ... RHP Tyler Chatwood (elbow) is expected to toss a bullpen session on Saturday but is not near a return.
White Sox: Reinstated RHP Evan Marshall (shoulder inflammation) from the 10-day injured list and optioned RHP José Ruiz to their Schaumburg, Illinois, training facility.
UP NEXT
The Cubs send veteran LHP Jon Lester (3-2, 4.40) to the mound against White Sox rookie RHP Dane Dunning (2-0, 3.19) on Saturday night. Lester has thrown six shutout innings in two of his three previous starts and has a 1.06 ERA those three outings.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
