Quero hits a game-ending homer as the White Sox beat the Cubs 9-8 in 10 innings

CHICAGO (AP) — Edgar Quero hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning and the Chicago White Sox beat the Chicago Cubs 9-8 on Sunday in the rubber game of their first crosstown series this season.

Batting with Chase Meidroth on third and one out, Quero drove a 95.5 mph fastball from Ryan Rolison (3-1) to center field for his first homer of the year. Quero finished with three hits and three RBIs after going 4 for 37 in his previous 15 games.

Andrew Benintendi went 3 for 3 and Miguel Vargas drove in two runs as the White Sox closed out an impressive 7-2 homestand. Tyler Davis (2-1) got three outs for the win in front of a sellout crowd of 38,608.

The White Sox grabbed a 7-4 lead on Tristan Peters’ first career homer, a three-run shot off Phil Maton in the eighth. But the Cubs tied it on Michael Conforto’s three-run drive off Seranthony Domínguez in the ninth.

Michael Busch also went deep for the NL Central-leading Cubs, who lost for the sixth time in eight games. Alex Bregman had two hits and two RBIs.

Busch connected for his fourth homer after Nico Hoerner hit a leadoff single in the first. Busch's 379-foot drive to right extended his on-base streak to a career-high 18 games.

Bregman singled home Dansby Swanson for a 4-1 lead in the fourth. The Cubs had a chance for a bigger inning, but Ian Happ bounced into a double play with runners on the corners.

Benintendi responded with an RBI double for the White Sox in the bottom half, and the South Siders added two more in the fifth.

With two outs and runners at the corners, Vargas hit a drive to right-center on a warm and windy afternoon at Rate Field. Pete Crow-Armstrong tried to make a leaping catch for the Cubs, but it went off the wall for a tying two-run double.

Cubs: LHP Shota Imanaga (4-3, 2.32 ERA) starts Monday night in the opener of a three-game series against Milwaukee. RHP Brandon Sproat (1-2, 5.75 ERA) takes the mound for the visiting Brewers.

White Sox: LHP Noah Schultz (2-2, 4.91 ERA) and Mariners RHP Bryan Woo (3-2, 3.91 ERA) start Monday night in the opener of a three-game set at Seattle.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, right, cannot catch a two-run double hit by Chicago White Sox's Miguel Vargas during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Colin Rea, right, kicks the mound as he talks with catcher Carson Kelly, left, during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago White Sox's Miguel Vargas hits a two-run double during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, right, cannot catch a two-run double hit by Chicago White Sox's Miguel Vargas during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago White Sox's Edgar Quero celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting the winning two-run home run during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago White Sox's Edgar Quero hits the winning two-run home run during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs optioned right-hander Javier Assad to Triple-A Iowa on Sunday to stretch him out as a starting pitcher.

Chicago also brought up left-hander Ty Blach from Triple-A Iowa and transferred right-hander Hunter Harvey to the 60-day injured list. Harvey is working his way back from right triceps inflammation.

With Matthew Boyd sidelined by a left knee injury, the NL Central-leading Cubs are thin when it comes to their rotation depth. Right-hander Cade Horton is out for the season because of elbow surgery, and Justin Steele has an uncertain timeline after he had a setback in his recovery from an elbow injury.

Ben Brown has made a successful return to the rotation, but he pitched just four innings in each of his first two starts.

The 28-year-old Assad is 16-11 with a 3.63 ERA in 57 career starts — all with the Cubs. He is 3-1 with a 5.88 ERA in five relief appearances and three starts for Chicago this season.

“If you just kind of look at this right now, starting pitching, where we're at, Matt still being a pretty good chunk of time away, making sure that should something else happen, we have somebody equipped,” manager Craig Counsell said before Sunday's 9-8 loss to the crosstown White Sox.

“We're transitioning Ben to this role, but the shortness of his stints, that affects you. So we don't want to get caught where we got nobody else that's really stretched out in any kind of way.”

Blach, 35, signed a minor league deal with Chicago in April. He is 23-33 with a 5.42 ERA in 156 major league appearances, including 70 starts.

The Cubs also could get Caleb Thielbar back as soon as Monday. The lefty reliever, who is on the IL with a left hamstring strain, pitched a scoreless inning in a rehab appearance with Class A South Bend on Saturday.

“Everything went well yesterday. Healthy,” Counsell said. “Just kind of seeing how he recovers today to really figure out when we activate him.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Chicago Cubs pitcher Javier Assad throws to the Texas Rangers during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 8, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)