The Chicago Cubs opened this year’s Crosstown Classic by beating the Chicago White Sox 10-5 on Friday night at Rate Field, a game that put the city’s baseball split back on center stage. It was the first White Sox game of the series, and it arrived with both teams carrying winning records for the first time since June 2008, excluding the 2020 pandemic season.

For a rivalry that has often tilted toward the Cubs in recent years, the matchup came with unusual balance. Chicago came in leading the National League Central and holding the second-best record in the National League, while the White Sox were one game out of first place in the American League Central and riding a five-game winning streak. That made the opener feel bigger than a typical interleague date, and fans noticed.

“It’s electrifying, yes,” said Zane Parks, who was among those taking in the game. He added that people were excited to see both teams going at each other this year and were there “to have fun and root our team on.” Mario Coix said the matchup was “awesome for the city” and “great,” adding that it brings families and the community together for a good time at the ballpark.

The buzz was tied to more than records. Bobby Parks said both sides had All-Stars and singled out Pete Crow, saying it would be “an electric game” with “really good players going at it today,” while Alex Avila said the atmosphere felt different from the quieter Sox crowds he had seen before. “It’s exciting, because I’ve come with him to Sox games, and it’s been empty, so the atmosphere has been kind of dull,” he said. “But I feel like today, it’s going to be great. It’s going to be exciting. It’s going to be electric. Both teams are doing well.”

With the opener in the books, the next three days now carry the kind of weight this rivalry has not always had. The Cubs have had the upper hand in recent Crosstown Classics, but the White Sox entered this set with a hot streak and a real chance to make the series about more than bragging rights. For both clubs, this is the rare stretch when the standings, the stakes and the city’s attention all line up at once.