Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox preview, Tuesday 8/18, 7:05 CT

Tuesday notes…

• AGAINST THE SOX: The Cubs now lead the all-time regular-season series vs. the White Sox, 79-77. They are 39-38 at home and 40-39 on the South Side. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• WHO’S ON SECOND: The Cubs are 24-16 in second games of series this season, their best other than 5-0 in fourth games. They are 22-20 in first games and 22-17 in third games. They have lost two of their last three second games, after having won eight in a row and 11 of 12. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• WINNERS AND LOSERS: The Cubs are 33-25 against teams that had winning records going into games. They are 15-7 during their 39-19 surge that began June 11. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• RUN SCORING: Their dramatic 7-5 win last night made the Cubs’ record 16-35 when they have allowed at least five runs. With four or fewer, they are 57-18. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SEIYA SUZUKI: The Cubs right fielder turns 32 today. Here’s hoping he celebrates several more birthdays in a Cubs uniform.

Cubs lineup:

White Sox lineup:

Kevin Gausman, RHP vs. Bryan Hudson, LHP

Kevin Gausman has made two starts for the Cubs, one good (vs. the Royals), one not so much (vs. the Nationals). The last time he pitched in Wrigley Field he wasn’t good either, but… that was facing Cubs hitters!

Gausman has not faced the White Sox since their awful 121-loss season in 2024, so that has little predictive value. The only current White Sox player with more than a handful of at-bats against Gausman is Andrew Benintendi (4-for-19, .211, one double).

Bryan Hudson is a left-handed reliever who’s serving as an opener tonight, largely because the Cubs generally have two left-handed hitters (Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch) at the top of the lineup.

Hudson was the Cubs’ third-round pick out of downstate Alton High School in 2015. He did get as high as Triple-A Iowa, but never got called up and left as a six-year minor league free agent after 2022. Signed by the Dodgers, he was eventually traded to the Brewers, where he had a really good year under Craig Counsell in 2023, then not so much in 2024. The White Sox signed him before this year and he’s been pretty good.

He made two relief appearances against the Cubs in the series on the South Side in May. In the first of those he allowed four hits and two runs. No Cubs hitter has faced him more than six times. Seiya Suzuki is 2-for-2 with a home run.

Erick Fedde is expected to be the “bulk guy” after Hudson. Fedde threw three innings against the Cubs May 17 and Michael Busch homered off him.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. It’s also on CHSN and WCIU-Ch. 26 with the Sox announcers, and there’s also a full national broadcast on TBS (outside the Cubs/White Sox shared market territory).

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation White Sox site South Side Sox. If you do go there to interact with Sox fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.