The Cubs head into an off day after avoiding a three-game sweep for the first time this season with a win in Wednesday’s series finale against the Cincinnati Reds. They head to St. Louis and then Toronto as they look to get the offense back on track.
The Sox haven’t had much success against the American League Central (7-20). They return home Friday for a pair of series against division foes, playing host to the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers. The Sox are 1-6 against the Guardians and 2-5 against the Tigers.
Every Thursday during the regular season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Cubs and White Sox.
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Cubs reliever Andrew Kittredge throws rare immaculate inning
Two batters into his outing Wednesday afternoon at Wrigley Field, Kittredge knew he had a chance to do something special.
The difficulty of completing an immaculate inning — striking out all three batters in a frame on the minimum nine pitches — is highlighted by how few pitchers have pulled off the feat. Kittredge became only the sixth known pitcher in Cubs history to throw an immaculate inning in a 6-1 win against the Cincinnati Reds when he struck out Austin Hayes, Gavin Lux and Tyler Stephenson in the seventh inning, putting each of them away on a whiff.
The others Cubs to do it:
- Hayden Wesneski, Sept. 22, 2022, vs. the Pirates
- LaTroy Hawkins, Sept. 11, 2004, vs. the Marlins
- Lynn McGlothen, Aug. 25, 1979, vs. the Giants
- Bruce Sutter, Sept. 8, 1977, vs. the Expos
- Milt Pappas, Sept. 24, 1971, vs. the Phillies
Kittredge knew he had a shot at it after the second strikeout.
“Just trying to make pitches at that point,” Kittredge said. “Honestly, it was kind of building off last night where I was not in the zone as much as I like to be and today I just kind of made it more of a conscious effort to be in the zone and it just kind of fell into place.”
Photos: Chicago Cubs beat Cincinnati Reds 6-1 at Wrigley Field
Catcher Carson Kelly realized Kittredge was on the verge of perfection before the final pitch as he ran through the pitch sequencing from the inning: sinker-sinker-slider to Hayes, sinker-sinker-slider to Lux and sinker-sinker to Stephenson.
Kelly quickly pondered what to call in that moment and again went back to the slider to put away Stephenson.
“It was pretty cool to be part of that,” said Kelly, who believes that was his first immaculate inning behind the plate.
Beyond the impressiveness of the feat, Kittredge’s inning of perfection was a needed bounce-back outing after Cubs fans’ boos followed him off the mound the night before. The veteran — acquired in a July 31 trade with the Baltimore Orioles — had surrendered four runs in a tie game during the seventh inning Tuesday in a 5-1 loss to the Reds.
“What’s cool about that is that’s what being like a big-league reliever is about,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s about things don’t go your way the night before, and you’re asked to come out and deliver in the same situation, and you deliver, and I love that.
“You have to have a short memory, and it’s the same guy, and he’s a good pitcher, and we’re going to need him.”
Kittredge appreciated Counsell putting him right back into a close game, entering with the Cubs holding a 2-0 lead, and the trust he showed in that situation.
“You always want to just get back out there as quick as you can … just so you don’t have to stew on it too long,” Kittredge said. “Hopefully you hear more cheers than boos, but you’re going to give up runs in this game. You’re going to have success in this game, hopefully, and just try to enjoy the times where it’s going well.”
White Sox’s Drew Thorpe receives helpful advice during recovery
White Sox starter Drew Thorpe delivers against the Rockies on June 28, 2024, at Guaranteed Rate Field. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Thorpe checked in with the big-league club during its West Coast trip as he continued recovering from Tommy John surgery.
“Feels good,” the Sox right-hander told the Tribune on Saturday at Angel Stadium. “Get out of Arizona for a little bit and get back with the guys. It’s been great.
“Just being around everybody and seeing everybody, hanging out — feels like being part of the team.”
Thorpe underwent the surgery on April 9. About three months out, Thorpe described the process as “good” while recovering at the club’s Arizona facility.
“It’s obviously super long,” he said. “So just kind of day by day. A couple of months until I start throwing, still. Just working toward that, building up strength.”
Thorpe, who was part of the March 2024 trade that sent pitcher Dylan Cease to the San Diego Padres, went 3-3 with a 5.48 ERA in nine starts for the Sox last season. He began the year at Double-A Birmingham, with whom he went 7-1 with a 1.35 ERA in 11 starts.
He spent this spring working his way back from a right elbow injury. But he exited a March 20 minor-league start with discomfort in the elbow. And the Sox later announced he would need Tommy John surgery.
Thorpe has leaned on several teammates, such as Davis Martin and Sean Burke.
“If I have questions or anything like that, just hitting them up and seeing how they went through their surgeries,” Thorpe said. “It’s a long process and it’s not always going to feel good so you’ve got to go day to day and push through it.”
Number of the week: 23
White Sox third baseman Colson Montgomery celebrates his two-run home run in the third inning against the Phillies on Monday, July 28, 2025, at Rate Field. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Colson Montgomery entered Tuesday with 23 RBIs since making his MLB debut on July 4 at Colorado. That’s the third-highest total in Sox history by a player in his first 25 career games. Zeke Bonura had 29 in 1934 and José Abreu had 27 in 2014.
Week ahead: Cubs
- Thursday: off
- Friday: at Cardinals, 7:15 p.m., Marquee
- Saturday: at Cardinals, 6:15 p.m., Fox
- Sunday: at Cardinals, 6:10 p.m., ESPN
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: at Blue Jays, 6:07 p.m., Marquee
- Wednesday: at Blue Jays, 6:07 p.m., Marquee
Cubs starter Shota Imanaga follows through on a pitch to the Reds on Aug. 5, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Shota Imanaga is known for his fastball-splitter combination that constantly changes the hitter’s eye level with his command and deception.
Imanaga hasn’t often needed to rely on his diverse pitch mix, but when the game has called for it, the lefty has shown why he has been one of the league’s best starters the last two years. In his stellar outing Tuesday against the Reds, Imanaga’s sweeper was a nasty pitch. Of the 16 he threw, Reds hitters whiffed at three of the four they swung at while taking five for called strikes.
“I’m not a pitcher who can throw 100 miles an hour, I don’t have crazy offspeed pitches,” Imanaga said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “I just need to command a lot of different pitches and locate where I want to locate. I think tonight Reese (McGuire) called a fantastic game. He thought out of the box and thought about situations that I didn’t even think about. So shout out to him too.”
Imanaga used his sweeper more frequently than anticipated heading into the start, but McGuire explained how that uptick was a byproduct of in-game recognition that the Reds were taking the pitch for a strike while their right-handed hitters whiffed on the ones he threw down and in.
“His slider (Tuesday night), I would have put it with any lefty slider,” McGuire told the Tribune. “It was really, really, really good, really wipe out-ish, got swing and miss on it, got some take strike 3s. That was fun to be able to navigate that. … It added a whole other weapon.”
Week ahead: White Sox
- Thursday: at Mariners, 3:10 p.m.
- Friday: vs. Guardians, 6:40 p.m., CHSN/The U
- Saturday: vs. Guardians, 6:10 p.m., CHSN
- Sunday: vs. Guardians, 1:10 p.m., CHSN
- Monday: vs. Tigers, 6:40 p.m., CHSN
- Tuesday: vs. Tigers, 6:40 p.m., CHSN
- Wednesday: vs. Tigers, 1:10 p.m., CHSN
Catcher Kyle Teel, left, and reliever Jordan Leasure slap hands after the White Sox defeated the Angels 1-0 on Aug. 2, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (Mark J. Terrill/AP)
Jordan Leasure received a text from his mother Saturday night, letting him know he was part of the club’s first one-hitter since 2023.
“I didn’t even know we gave up one hit,” Leasure told the Tribune with a laugh Sunday.
Leasure earned the save on Saturday, pitching a perfect ninth in a 1-0 win against the Los Angeles Angels. He joined starter Aaron Civale and reliever Brandon Eisert in combining for the one-hitter.
The save came one day after he picked up the win in a 6-3 victory. Leasure struck out four in 1 2/3 hitless innings Friday.
“Went in there just trying to throw strikes,” he said. “Felt like it was one of those games I was able to throw the ball wherever I needed to. (Catcher Edgar Quero) was calling a good game. Everything was working.”
He got a groundout, lineout and flyout on Saturday.
“Just riding what I did the night before,” Leasure said. “Wasn’t as sharp, but still felt like I was throwing the ball well and the stuff was playing really well. Just trying to throw it in the zone.”
Leasure has the second-most outings this season for the Sox (45). He has a 4.32 ERA and three saves.
“Outstanding series from Jordan,” manager Will Venable said Tuesday. “He saved us a couple of times, some really meaningful outs. He’s been good for us. We’ve seen some times where he’s been dominant and some stretches where he’s had to fight through some adversity.
“It’s all put him in a spot where we are certainly confident in him, he’s in a good spot. Feeling good and going out there and just has really good stuff, competing in the zone.”
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Quotable
“Cade was awesome. Just the strike throwing ability, I think I saw 56 strikes in 67 pitches, I mean, that’s top-end stuff to be at and it’s quality stuff, and that’s a good formula for success.” — Counsell on rookie Cade Horton’s 5 2/3 shutout innings Wednesday.