Edgar Quero sent the White Sox home with a walk-off two-run home run on Sunday, lifting Chicago to a 9-8 win over the Cubs in the Crosstown Classic finale.
The White Sox had trailed, surged, and been tied again before Quero ended it with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. His drive capped a game that swung hard in both directions and gave the White Sox their first series win over the Cubs since 2022.
It was the kind of finish that matched the mood around the ballpark. The White Sox had already taken Game 2 by five runs after the Cubs won Game 1 by the same margin, leaving Game 3 tied going into the eighth inning. Then Tristan Peters broke the deadlock with a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to put the White Sox ahead 7-4, only for Michael Conforto to answer with a three-run homer in the top of the ninth and tie it 7-7.
Quero, who delivered the final blow, called it a massive win for a White Sox team he said is proving it can win. That was not just clubhouse language. The White Sox have been surging in May and had gotten past.500, and Sunday’s finish gave that run a sharper edge. The Crosstown Classic had not featured both teams over.500 against each other since 2008, when both Chicago teams made the playoffs, which helped give this three-game set an unusual electricity.
The tension showed in how little either side was willing to give away. The Cubs looked to have seized control after Conforto’s ninth-inning blast, but Quero’s home run wiped that out in a matter of pitches. For the White Sox, it was the sort of response that can change the feel of a season, even if only for a day. For the Cubs, it was a missed chance to take a series in a matchup that already carried more weight than usual.
What happens next is simple enough: the White Sox head into the next stretch with a win that counts in the standings and in the locker room, while the Cubs leave a game they had twice pushed back to even and still lost. In a series that kept flipping, Quero had the last turn.
