The Chicago Cubs (19-30) and White Sox (24-24) will open up their cross-town series at U.S. Cellular field on Monday. The first-pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET and can be seen live here.
In the past, these rivals played separate three-game sets in their parks that captivated the Windy City, but as part of the "prime rivals" portion of the interleague play, all four of the teams' 2013 macthups take place this week beginning Monday night at U.S. Cellular Field.
The White Sox have won four of six in each of the four previous seasons against the Cubs, but three victories will be enough to capture bragging rights this time. The first two games will be played on the South Side before action resumes at Wrigley Field on Wednesday and Thursday.
"It's nice that we've got four days that we're going to be at home but as far as two and two, that's just the way the schedule is," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said.
Cubs manager Dale Sveum shared a similar opinion about the serious.
"It's such a strange circumstance to play four games in, obviously, the same city but in two different parks," Sveum told the Cubs' official website. "There's no other way to do it now, and there's nothing you can do about it. But it's kind of funny how it comes that way with the crosstown rivals."
The Cubs (19-30) return to Chicago in a positive note after ending a season-high six-game slide with a 5-4, 10-inning victory over Cincinnati on Sunday. Alfonso Soriano hit a tying two-run homer in the eighth inning and Wellington Castillo had a go-ahead double in the 10th as the Cubs rallied from a 4-0 deficit after six.
Jeff Samardzija (2-6) will take the hill for Chicago. Despite his poor record, Samardzija has pitched well for the Cubs, holding a 3.25 ERA, but has failed to have run support from his offense.
Jose Quintana (3-1) will match Samardzija. He currently holds a 3.48 ERA and is coming off an impressive winning effort in which he went 6.1 innings allowing zero earned runs.
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