CHICAGO (AP) Kyle Schwarber got off to a terrible start this year with the Chicago Cubs. He was sent down to Triple-A Iowa last month and then recalled after a short stint in the minors.
After months of work with a couple of different hitting coaches, it looks as if he might be coming around at the plate.
Schwarber homered twice and drove in four runs as the Cubs beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3 on Thursday night for their third consecutive victory.
”It’s all paying off,” he said. ”Like I said, I can’t be result-based. I want to be process-based still, and today was a good day.”
Anthony Rizzo also connected and Jon Lester pitched seven effective innings as the Cubs improved to 11-2 since the All-Star break. The NL Central leaders also increased their advantage over the second-place Brewers to 1 1/2 games ahead of their big series this weekend in Milwaukee.
Lester (8-6) allowed two runs and four hits in his third straight win since he got just two outs in the shortest start of his career on July 9 against Pittsburgh.
”We got a chain going,” Lester said. ”We’re pitching well. We’re playing well on all aspects of the game. We’re doing everything pretty solid right now.”
Jose Abreu homered twice and Willy Garcia also went deep for the lowly White Sox, who have lost seven in a row at home for the first time since 2011 and 12 of 13 overall.
Garcia’s leadoff drive in the third put the White Sox in front, but the Cubs went ahead in the fourth when Schwarber belted an opposite-field shot to left for his 16th of the season.
Schwarber added a run-scoring triple in the sixth and a solo drive in the eighth for his fourth career multihomer game. He is batting .333 (8 for 24) with three homers and six RBIs in his last eight games.
”Right now the game’s slowing down again. His confidence is building,” manager Joe Maddon said. ”As his confidence builds, you’re going to see less swings and misses on his pitch, or less fouling off of his pitch. It was really nice to see tonight.”
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