Cubs Win Round 1 in Chicago

You could look at it as though the Cubs got even.

It’s a stretch, but the Cubs will take what they can get, even if it’s an 8-3 victory over the White Sox on Monday at Comiskey Park.

The last time the teams played each other in a meaningful game was Oct. 14, 1906, when the White Sox won, 8-3, in the sixth and final game of the World Series.

“For the first time in a long time I was excited and nervous,” Cub first baseman Mark Grace said.

“It was a fun atmosphere. It was pretty intense. I didn’t think I’d ever see it, not in my career. I’m kind of proud that I was part of this and part of the first game ever since 19-oh-whatever and that we won this historical game.”

The Cubs did it with 14 hits and an early scoring outburst against former teammate Jaime Navarro (4-6).

Brian McRae had three of the hits and two runs batted in. Ryne Sandberg also added three hits.

For the opener of the three-game series, there was a crowd of 36,213, 8,108 under capacity but still the second largest of the season at Comiskey Park.

Navarro, who has criticized Cub management for not re-signing him, struggled early, giving up two runs in the first inning on Brant Brown’s RBI triple and Grace’s sacrifice fly.

Three more runs in the second and another run in the third gave the Cubs a cushion.

“I can go home and relax and say I beat a team I really didn’t care for on the South Side,” winning pitcher Kevin Foster said. “I hope we can win two more and keep a lot of the talk down about who is the better team. Today we were better, but we got two games to go.”