Swanson gets 2 hits after wife wins gold, Amaya delivers 2-run single as Cubs beat White Sox 3-1

Dansby Swanson had two hits hours after his wife won an Olympic gold medal, Miguel Amaya delivered a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth inning, and the Chicago Cubs beat the crosstown White Sox 3-1 on Saturday night to complete a two-game sweep.

Nico Hoerner walked leading off the eighth against Chad Kuhl (0-2) and took second on Swanson’s single. Pete Crow-Armstrong moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt, and Amaya lined a two-run single, giving the Cubs a 3-1 lead and sending them to their eighth win in 10 games.

Swanson capped an unforgettable day by singling twice, giving him 1,001 career hits, and scoring a run. He did it hours after his wife, Mallory, scored the lone goal as the U.S. women’s soccer team beat Brazil for the Olympic gold medal.

“Probably a day they'll never forget,” Cody Bellinger said. “His wife scores the game-winning goal in a gold match and he gets his 1,000th career hit all in the same day. That's a pretty special day right there.”

Justin Steele tossed six innings, allowing one unearned run and six hits. The left-hander struck out eight and walked two.

Porter Hodge (1-1) retired all three batters in the seventh. Jorge López pitched around a single and a walk in the eighth, striking out Korey Lee and Corey Julks to end that threat.

Héctor Neris worked the ninth for his 17th save in 21 chances. He dropped a throw covering first allowing Brooks Baldwin to reach leading off, then retired the next three batters as the North Siders complete a four-game season sweep of the South Siders. The Cubs (59-60) also put themselves in position to reach .500 for the first time since June 5, when when they beat the White Sox at Wrigley Field to improve to 31-31.

“We played a good series,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We took care of business. We won two games. ... We dug ourselves a hole. We're trying to dig out of it. We're trying to put ourselves within striking distance here. Just keep playing good baseball. There's time. But we got to play good baseball and we know we don't have much room for error.”

The White Sox lost for the 24th time in 25 games and fell a franchise-record 63 games below .500 at 28-91. They are 0-2 since firing manager Pedro Grifol and replacing him on an interim basis with Grady Sizemore.

The White Sox took a 1-0 lead in the second when Miguel Vargas reached on an error by second baseman Hoerner and scored on a single by Baldwin.

The Cubs tied it in the fifth when Bellinger singled with two out and scored from third on Isaac Paredes’ double to left. Baldwin, the shortstop, took the throw from Andrew Benintendi and held onto the ball rather than attempt to get the runner at the plate.

“I think he was just caught off guard," Sizemore said. "I don’t think he expected the third base coach to send him there. He was thinking first and third, maybe I got a play on Paredes at second. With it being so loud, he probably didn’t hear us yelling four. Just a missed opportunity.”

White Sox starter Chris Flexen tossed three-hit ball over four scoreless innings. The right-hander walked four and threw 78 pitches in his 17th straight winless outing since beating Tampa Bay on May 8.

The game was delayed for a few minutes prior to the bottom of the ninth when two fans got onto the field.

As one got tackled by security along the warning track in right-center, another came out of the stands in left-center. He got carted off the field with what appeared to be a leg injury.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Cubs: LHP Jordan Wicks (strained right oblique) started for Triple-A Iowa on Saturday.

UP NEXT

Cubs: The Cubs have not announced a starter for Monday's game at Cleveland. The Guardians are scheduled to go with RHP Ben Lively (10-7, 3.59 ERA).

White Sox: LHP Ky Bush (0-1, 6.75) makes his second career start as the White Sox open a three-game series against the Yankees on Monday. New York has not announced a starter. ---

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb