{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
Major League Baseball
Chi. Cubs 3, Chi. White Sox 1
When: 2:20 PM ET, Sunday, July 12, 2015
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
Temperature: 74°
Umpires: Home - Mike Everitt, 1B - Tom Hallion, 2B - Dan Bellino, 3B - Alfonso Marquez
Attendance: 41688

CHICAGO -- For Jake Arrieta and the Chicago Cubs, the season's first half came to an uplifting conclusion.

The right-hander tossed a two-hitter and hit his first major league home run Sunday in the Cubs' 3-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Wrigley Field. The home team salvaged the final game of a three-game interleague series.

The Cubs (47-40) enter the All-Star break with nine more wins than they had at the break in 2014. They are on track for 87 victories and perhaps a postseason berth.

"I wanted to go out there and set the tone early and put up a bunch of zeros," said Arrieta (10-5), who tied a career high for wins and is the first Cub with 10 victories before the All-Star break since 2008. "To go into the break with that win under our belt and some momentum, it's nice."

Arrieta worked his second complete game of the season and struck out nine without issuing a walk in front of a season-best Wrigley Field crowd of 41,688.

White Sox left-handed starter Jose Quintana (4-9) got limited run support once again while allowing three runs on eight hits and striking out nine in 7 1/3 innings.

The Cubs snapped a three-game losing streak. The White Sox (41-45) saw their four-game winning streak end.

"We played well the last two weeks," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "We had a good run at it going into the break. We played well, we pitched well, we played defense and scored some runs when we needed to. Today, we ran into a very good pitcher (and) couldn't get much going on offensively."

The Cubs jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first, starting with center fielder Dexter Fowler's milestone 800th career hit -- a single to center and the first of his three hits on the day.

Fowler came home on third baseman Kris Bryant's one-out triple to the left field corner. Bryant scored on right fielder Jorge Soler's base hit to left.

Arrieta didn't allow a hit until White Sox third baseman Tyler Saladino singled to right with one out in the fourth.

"His stuff is definitely in the elite level of all major league pitchers, there's no question," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "He was a strike-thrower today, his curveball is ridiculously one of the best ... (and he) hits homers."

Arrieta also aided his effort with a solo home run to lead off the fifth inning for a 3-0 Cubs lead.

He lined a two-strike pitch from Quintana to the left field bleachers for the first home run by a Cubs pitcher this season.

The White Sox got one run back in the sixth on center fielder Adam Eaton's sacrifice bunt that scored second baseman Carlos Sanchez from third.

Quintana departed in favor of right-hander Zach Putnam with one out in the eighth. In his past 11 outings, Quintana is 2-6.

"He had the rough first inning, the homer to Arrieta, but other than that, he always seems to give you a chance right there at the end," Ventura said. "He's tough. He doesn't cave in for the fact that we haven't scored much for him."

NOTES: The White Sox entered Sunday's series finale with a 13-6 record since June 20, the best mark in baseball in that span. They were 26-38 prior to that following an eight-game losing streak. ... White Sox LHP Chris Sale had 10 strikeouts Saturday against the Cubs, giving him 10 or more in seven consecutive road games. ... Both teams donned throwback uniforms honoring recently deceased players. The Cubs wore No. 14 to honor Ernie Banks, while the White Sox had a patch remembering Minnie Minoso. ... The White Sox rested 1B Jose Abreu to help allow a sore leg and right index finger to heal. ... Cubs C Miguel Montero jammed his left thumb Saturday and the team awaits test results before determine a next step. He didn't play Sunday. ... The Cubs activated C David Ross from the seven-day concussion disabled list and optioned OF Mike Baxter to Triple-A Iowa. ... Following the four-day All-Star break, the Cubs resume National League play Friday with the start of a three-game weekend series at Atlanta. The White Sox are home beginning Friday against the Kansas City Royals.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Chi. White Sox   Chi. Cubs
Jose Quintana Player Jake Arrieta
Loss W/L Win
7.1 IP 9.0
9 Strikeouts 9
8 Hits 2
3.68 ERA 1.00
Hitting
Chi. White Sox   Chi. Cubs
Tyler Saladino Player Dexter Fowler
1 Hits 3
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
1 TB 3
.333 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Chi. White Sox 2 0 3 .071 3 9 1 0 0 0
Chi. Cubs 8 1 13 .276 11 10 3 0 0 0