Giolito gets help in pitching White Sox past Cubs 4-3

CHICAGO — Lucas Giolito struck out 10, Luis Robert made a game-saving catch and Matt Foster worked out of a major jam Wednesday night as the Chicago White Sox beat the Chicago Cubs 4-3 at Wrigley Field.

Jose Abreu and Leury Garcia homered for the White Sox, who overcame an early 3-1 deficit.

Giolito (1-1) reached double digits in strikeouts for the 14th time since joining the White Sox in 2017. He allowed three hits in 5 2/3 innings, including home runs by Nico Hoerner and Patrick Wisdom in the second.

After issuing a walk to Ian Happ, the right-hander was pulled in favor of Reynaldo Lopez.

Willson Contreras ripped a drive to deep center field, where Robert sprinted to make the grab before his left shoulder crashed into the brick wall. Robert laid on the warning track for several seconds before trotting off the field under his own power.

“Well, he’s strong, but he’s not as strong as that brick wall out there,” White Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “He kept saying he’s OK. He hit himself pretty hard.”

The Cubs, held to three hits through seven innings, put the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base with no outs in the eighth. Foster relieved Aaron Bummer and retired the next three batters, punctuated by a called third strike on Happ.

Liam Hendricks pitched the ninth for his seventh save.

“That’s the kind of win that makes us feel good, especially coming off of last night,” Giolito said. “That was a big one, and this one – trending in the right direction. Unbelievable effort from everybody.”

The White Sox (11-13) swept the two-game series against their intercity rivals and stretched their winning streak to three. The Cubs (10-14) lost for the fifth time in six games.

Abreu staked the White Sox to a 1-0 lead with his third homer in the first inning off Kyle Hendricks (1-3). Abreu’s homer was his 12th in 38 games against the Cubs, and he improved his career batting average against Hendricks to .600 (15 for 25) with two home runs and six RBIs.

The White Sox beat the Cubs’ shift to score the tying and go-ahead runs. Gavin Sheets poked a single through a wide gap on the left side to score Robert in the fourth, and AJ Pollock hit a bloop single to shallow right field that eluded second baseman Nick Madrigal to score Abreu in the sixth.

Pollock was 3 for 34 since returning from the 10-day injured list before hitting his single, but he grounded into a double play to end the eighth.

Garcia homered to center in the third.

Cubs rookie Seiya Suzuki went hitless in four at-bats and is mired in a 1-for-23 slump with eight strikeouts.

“That’s a pretty frustrating (loss),” Hendricks said. “I thought we played pretty well, made some good plays out there, put together great at-bats. We had some chances there late. We just hit balls right at guys.”

ROTATION ROUNDUP

Johnny Cueto threw 3 2/3 innings and 74 pitches in his third start for Triple-A Charlotte at Gwinnett. La Russa intimated Cueto could join the rotation shortly.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: LF Andrew Vaughn (bruised right hand) is headed to the 10-day injured list. … 3B Jake Burger (left knee soreness) could return this weekend, La Russa said. . 3B Yoan Moncada (right oblique strain) and RHP Joe Kelly (right biceps) could return Monday when the White Sox open a seven-game homestand.

Cubs: LHP Wade Miley (left elbow inflammation) will start Thursday for Triple-A Iowa on a rehab assignment. . INF David Bote (left shoulder) fielded grounders and is scheduled to take live batting practice this weekend.

UP NEXT

White Sox: RHP Vince Velasquez (1-2, 4.58 ERA) will face the Boston Red Sox in Friday’s series opener. Velasquez pitched 5 2/3 innings Monday in a 4-0 win over the Angels.

Cubs: LHP Drew Smyly (1-2, 2.79) is scheduled to pitch Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers if he returns from the bereavement list. Smyly allowed two runs in 4 2/3 innings of a 5-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves on April 28.

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles signed outfielder Aaron Hicks less than 24 hours after Cedric Mullins went down with a strained right groin.

Mullins went on the 10-day injured list, but the Orioles are hoping Hicks can help defensively in the spacious outfield at Camden Yards. Hicks was released last week by the New York Yankees with more than 2 1/2 seasons left on his contract.

“We had noticed that he was a free agent even before the injury,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias said. “When the injury occurred and it became pretty clear this was going to be an IL, it seemed like a good fit even more so at that time.”

The Orioles are responsible for paying Hicks just $483,871, a prorated share of the $720,000 minimum salary. The Yankees owe him the rest of his $10.5 million salary this year, plus $9.5 million in each of the next two seasons and a $1 million buyout of a 2026 team option.

The 33-year-old Hicks hit just .188 in 28 games for the Yankees this year.

“We have stuff that we look at from a scouting and evaluation perspective,” Elias said. “It’s very different from just looking at the back of a baseball card, and we hope that we get a bounceback from anyone we bring here.”

Hicks batted .216 last season.

“Hopefully that’s a good thing for him,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the Baltimore deal. “A lot of time here and a lot of good things happened for him here. I know the last couple of years have been a struggle. But hopefully it’s a good opportunity for him and certainly wish him well. Not too well being in our division and a team we’re chasing, but hopefully it’s a really good fit for him.”

Mullins left a loss to Cleveland after he pulled up while running out an infield grounder. Outfielder Colton Cowser – the fifth pick in the draft two years ago – is hitting .331 at Triple-A Norfolk, but he went on the IL in the past couple weeks.

“Certainly he was building a case towards promotion consideration prior to his injury and prior to Cedric’s injury,” Elias said. “We’ll just see where we’re at.”

Hicks was active for the game but not in the starting lineup. Austin Hays, normally Baltimore’s left field, was in Mullins’ usual spot in center.

When the wall in left at Camden Yards was pushed significantly back before last season, it made left field a bigger challenge defensively.

“In this park … you really need two center fielders,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Aaron’s got a lot of center-field experience. Played left field here before also. Brings the defensive aspect and then the switch-hitting.”