Kyle Schwarber homered twice and drove in four runs, and the rolling Chicago Cubs beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3 on Thursday night for their third consecutive victory.
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 July 9 against Pittsburgh. The starting pitchers for the Cubs are 10-0 with a 2.50 ERA in the last 13 games.
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. Mike Pelfrey (3-8) was tagged for five runs and six hits in five-plus innings.
After winning 3-1 at Wrigley Field on Monday, the White Sox dropped three in a row by a combined score of 21-8. The Cubs won the season series for the first time since they went 4-0 against the White Sox in 2013.
