Jeff Samardzija pitches first career complete game shutout as Cubs win 7-0 over White Sox

Jeff Samardzija was brilliant as he pitched his first career complete game shutout and led the Cubs to a 7-0 win over their crosstown rival, the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field on a cool Memorial Day evening.

Jeff Samardzija pitched his first career complete game shutout on Monday against the White Sox (Chicago Sun-Times photo)

The "Shark" allowed just two hits and struck out eight and walked two batters over nine innings pitched and 108 pitches thrown.  Samardzija is the first Cubs starter to pitch a shutout since former Cub Randy Wells did so on August 29. 2011 against the San Francisco Giants.

Samardzija said, "I love this place.  I loved coming to watch games here as a kid.  I loved watching these guys play here, so to come here, and have my whole family here, 30 minutes from home, from my backyard, it's fun.  I love being here, I love the atmosphere.  I love these games against the White Sox, they're always fun.  Unfortunately, they cut [the series] down to four -- this is what baseball is all about, these rivalry games.  It's just fun, this is what you play for."  He also added, "I love competing against that team, they're a great group of guys who play hard, and I admire them a lot -- it was just fun."

Cubs manager Dale Sveum said, "That kind of stuff, 97 [mph] from the first pitch to the last pitch, whatever he threw, you're not going to see that too often in the big leagues."

Julio Borbon hit his first homer and Anthony Rizzo had a double and a triple and drove in two runs.  Rizzo said, "Just to put runs on the board and keep adding on, and two-out hits, it's nice for the entire team, the pitching staff, our coaches -- it was a nice, easy win."

In other Cubs news, the team placed right handed reliever Kyuji Fujikawa on the 15-day disabled list  with a right forearm strain.  The Cubs also claimed right-handed pitcher Alex Burnett off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles, who takes Fujikawa's spot on the roster.

The Cubs and Sox will play the second game of the four game Crosstown Classic series tomorrow night at 7:10pm CT on the South Side.  Edwin Jackson will start for the Cubs and try to earn his second win of the season.

Jeff Samardzija pitches complete game for last start as Cubs win 4-3 over Pirates

The Cubs won the second game of the three-game series 4-3 against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park Saturday night.  Following last night's win, this was the team's first back-to-back victory on the road since July 23-24, which coincidentally was also at PNC Park.

Jeff Samardzija made his last start of the season since the team wants to be cautious and save his arm from wear and tear since this is his first full season as a starter (vs. a reliever).

The Shark ended his season in style as he pitched his first career complete game and allowed three runs on four hits while striking out nine batters and walking just one.  This was Samardzija's ninth win of the season.

“That was a special night for him and the team to win two in a row after what just happened in Washington,” manager Dale Sveum said.  "It was big for him to be that so-called No. 1 guy to step up and give us back-to-back wins for the first time on the road in I don’t know how long.”  

Jeff Samardzija ended his first season as a starting pitcher on a strong note by earning his ninth win and first complete game (photo from cubs.com)

Speaking of Washington, catcher Steve Clevenger was fined and suspended for one game (which took place tonight) for his involvement during the brawl during Thursday's game against the Nationals.

One twist to tonight's lineup was that Samardzija batted eighth, ahead of outfielder Tony Campana.  Sveum said he wanted to try this because he liked the idea of having two leadoff men in Campana and David DeJesus.  Sveum said, “It took 138 games but I finally did something right, huh?  It worked.”

Alfonso Soriano hit his 27th homer of the season tonight while David DeJesus had an RBI single in the eighth to give the Cubs a 4-3 lead. 

Second baseman Darwin Barney extended his errorless games streak to 124 straight games tonight, which tops Ryne Sandberg's overall National League record which was set between June 21, 1989 to May 17, 1990. 


Tomorrow the Cubs and Pirates will play the final game of the three-game series at 12:35pm CT.  Chris Rusin will start for the Cubs and try for his first win.