Samardzija dominates as Cubs blank White Sox in Game 1 of Crosstown Classic

Jeff Samardzija threw a complete game, two-hit shutout and Julio Borbon hit a two-run home run and the Chicago Cubs beat the Chicago White Sox 7-0 on Monday. Samardzija (3-6) pitched the Cubs' first complete game shutout since Randy Wells shut out the Giants on Aug. 29, 2011. The last time Cubs shut out an opponent as a team came against the Rockies on Aug. 26, 2012. The first White Sox hit came from Conor Gillaspie in the third inning. Samardzija then got Jeff Keppinger to hit into a double play as he faced the minimum through four innings. He struck out Alejandro De Aza to end the sixth. He then retired 12 straight before giving up a walk to Tyler Flowers in the ninth inning. He bounced back by striking out De Aza, then after a single to Alexei Ramirez, he got Alex Rios to pop out to end the game. Anthony Rizzo doubled and hit a two-run triple in his first Crosstown Classic and Alfonso Soriano added three hits as the Cubs won two in a row after losing six straight. The once anticipated interleague series in Chicago lost some of its luster with the fans as the Cubs entered the game in last place in the NL Central and the White Sox struggling to play .500. The announced attendance was 30,601 at U.S. Cellular Field. White Sox starter Jose Quintana (3-2) allowed four runs and four hits. He struck out five and allowed three walks. The White Sox lost for the second time in seven games. With one out in the first inning, Quintana walked Starlin Castro then struck out Rizzo as Castro was attempting to steal second. Flowers was unable to throw to second because Ramirez forgot to cover second base. Soriano followed with a single off the left field wall to score Castro. In the fifth inning, Borbon hit a two-run shot to right on the first pitch. It was his first homer and the first RBIs of the season. Rizzo led off the sixth with a double and scored on Scott Hairston's sacrifice fly to make it 4-0. In the seventh, Rizzo hit a two-run triple off the center field wall and scored on Soriano's single to extend the Cubs lead to 7-0. White Sox reliever Nate Jones allowed three runs and four hits in the seventh inning.