Chicago Sports

White Sox outfielder Andrew Vaughn landed on the 10-day injured list Thursday after missing his fifth game in a row with a bruised right hand. Infielder Danny Mendick was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte.

“The bruise is deep and it’s in an area where it’s a tough spot to handle it,” manager La Russa said Wednesday before saying Vaughn would probably go to the IL

The move is retroactive to Monday. Vaughn could come off next Thursday, in seven days.

Vaughn was hit by a pitch Friday by the Angels’ Mike Mayers. X-rays were negative, but “tons of inflammation” remained five days later, Vaughn said Wednesday.

“It’s kind of progressed, but it’s still aching when I swing, real bad,” Vaughn said. “Like it’s kind of blocking me from swinging because of the pain. I feel it all the time.”

The Sox are off Thursday. They play a weekend series in Boston against the Red Sox before returning home Monday to play the Guardians and Yankees next week.

Vaughn, 24, was leading the Sox with four homers and was one of their top hitters with a .283/.367/.566 hitting line and .933 OPS when he went down.

Moncada, Kelly close; Cueto, too?

Third baseman Yoan Moncada and right-handed reliever Joe Kelly should wrap up rehabilitation assignments with Triple-A Charlotte this weekend and could arrive for the homestand, which starts Monday against Cleveland.

Right-hander Johnny Cueto made what was likely his last start for Charlotte and could also join the team next week. Cueto needed 74 pitches to get through 3 2/3 innings. He allowed four runs and six hits, including a homer, and a walk while striking out three. Cueto has a 6.10 ERA over three starts.

Ouch

Third baseman Jake Burger, who has played a lot of third base in Moncada’s absence, felt sore one day after crashing into the side wall tracking a foul ball that was well out of his reach. He was not in the lineup Wednesday.

o Eloy Jimenez (hamstring) played catch and fielded soft fungoes from coach Daryl Boston. Jimenez is expected to be out another five to seven weeks.

Pitching hurts

Managers constantly juggle bullpen usage not only according to matchups and game situations but also how their relievers feel on a given day. Working more than two days in a row is usually off limits.

At times, pitchers are available only in a pinch even if they were off the previous day, which explains why La Russa handed righty Matt Foster the eighth inning of a 3-1 game Tuesday against the Cubs. It was the highest leveraged appearance for Foster, who has allowed one earned run in seven appearances over 11 innings.

Kendall Graveman wasn’t available, La Russa said.

“It’s common sense,” La Russa said. “It’s early. We have been pushing him, and it’s a long season. And we’ve got a deep bullpen.”

Closer Liam Hendriks said pitchers are always sore to some degree or another.

“We usually have this conversation in the bullpen, especially with the young guys,” Hendriks said. “When is the last time you’ve pitched without pain? Last year, I was talking to Craig [Kimbrel] and his was 2014, mine was right around 2014 as well. Can’t remember the last time we’ve thrown without something going on.”

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The Bears will sell single-game tickets and suite availability for 2022 preseason and regular-season games on May 12 at 8:30 p.m., after the NFL announces the regular-season schedule, the team announced.

Tickets will be available to the general public via the team’s website at ChicagoBears.com/Tickets. Demand-based pricing will be used again this season. The Bears, under new head coach Matt Eberflus, have nine home games this season: against the Packers, Lions, Vikings, Commanders, Eagles, Dolphins, Bills, Texans and 49ers.

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Glancing at the illustration of the boy with the far-off stare standing next to a bus on the cover of the graphic novel memoir that will tell his story, Akim Aliu immediately remembers the pain of growing up poor and Black in Toronto.

From the hours spent alone riding public transit to and from arenas across the city to the strips of duct tape holding together the garage sale-purchased hockey equipment bag slung over his shoulder, the depiction of a teenaged Aliu hits home. Aliu was born in Nigeria to mixed-race parents and then lived in Ukraine before the family moved to Canada.

“It’s a simple cover, but tells a long, deep story of a lot of sorrow, a lot of sad days, a lot of tears, a lot of uncertainty and feeling different and, to be honest, feeling left out, feeling like you’re not part of the society as it stands,” said Aliu, now 32. “It’s powerful, and it really hits me. And I hope people take the time to digest it, and learn a little bit more about my story.”

Titled “Akim Aliu Dreamer: Growing Up Black in the World of Hockey,” the graphic novel is due out in February, and is being co-released by Scholastic and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s publishing company. The release, announced Thursday, comes on the heels of Kaepernick’s own best-selling picture book, “I Color Myself Different,” which details a similar tale of an athlete transcending their sport by speaking out on inequality.

Aimed for an audience of 8- to 12-year-olds, Aliu shares his journey of dealing with the difficulties of assimilating in Ukraine and Canada. It details the hazing and systemic racism he experienced pursuing his dream of playing pro hockey before eventually finding his voice in forcing the sport of hockey to confront its bias toward people of color.

Aliu was a journeyman minor leaguer who appeared in seven NHL career games with the Calgary Flames over two seasons before he made two life-altering social media posts in November 2019.

In allegations proven to be true, Aliu revealed then-Flames coach Bill Peters bullied and directed racist slurs at him when the two were in the minors a decade earlier. Peters resigned days later, and Aliu’s revelations led to the NHL instituting a personal conduct policy in a bid to eradicate racism in what’s traditionally been a white-dominated sport.

Aliu has since co-founded a players-backed Hockey Diversity Alliance to raise awareness and make hockey more accessible to minorities and underprivileged youth.

Aliu said he never envisioned being the subject of a graphic novel, and doesn’t consider himself being some sort of superhero. He hopes that sharing his past helps ease the feelings of hopelessness others might be experiencing.

“For the longest time, I think hockey took so much out of me because I was trying to fit into this mold,” said Aliu, who last played pro hockey in the Czech Republic in the final weeks of the 2019-20 season. “I kind of came to peace where I was just happy in my own skin.”

The book is being co-written by Greg Anderson Elysee, a Haitian-American writer and film-maker, and illustrated by Karen De la Vega, who is making her publishing debut.

Aliu’s message of speaking out against injustice is also now tied to his roots, given the war in Ukraine, and watching in horror footage of his former neighborhood devastated by shelling. With a Nigerian father and Ukrainian mother, Aliu spent much of his first nine years living in Kyiv before the family moved to Canada.

He is now working on bringing the remainder of his mother’s family and others to Canada in a process that began with relocating his grandfather from Kyiv a month before Russia’s invasion. He said he has been in contact with Canada’s United Nations ambassador, Bob Rae, on speeding up the visa process for refugees, and is also donating $50,000 to Ukrainian-based charitable foundations.

Just as he was bullied during a hazing incident during his rookie season in the Ontario Hockey League, Aliu sees Russian President Vladimir Putin doing the same to Ukraine: “You just can’t grasp how a human being cannot care about humans so much based on power and greed and ego.”

Long gone are the days Aliu was so ashamed of riding public transit he’d keep it a secret from his teammates, or the person who was too fearful to speak out on racism in fear of jeopardizing his career. He believes he is stronger for the adversity he has faced.

Aliu’s nickname, “Dreamer,” has taken on a deeper meaning over time. People initially began calling him that because Aliu was Nigerian, just like former NBA star Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon.

Today, the nickname better describes the person he’s become.

“I feel like this is a conversation, especially in the game of hockey, that’s never really been had at this level,” Aliu said. “And I’d like to say that I had a part in that coming out with my story and not really backing down from the establishment on wanting to make change. And I’ll continue to dream.”

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Almost every one of Cubs second baseman Nick Madrigal’s former White Sox teammates said something to him when they reached second base in the Crosstown series opener.

That list included Jose Abreu, Yasmani Grandal and Tim Anderson, who was Madrigal’s middle infield mate in the first two seasons of his major-league career.

“Just to see him doing his thing and see him healthy and playing is definitely cool,” Anderson told the Sun-Times.

Madrigal, who sustained a season-ending hamstring tear last June with the White Sox, faced his old team for the first time in a two-game series this week. The Cubs lost 4-3 to the White Sox on Wednesday, dropping both games to their crosstown rivals.

Over the course of the series Madrigal went 3-for-6. He said he was seeing the ball a lot better after the Cubs’ 3-1 loss Tuesday, in which Madrigal made solid contact in two at-bats, one for a single and the other for a line-out.

All of Anderson’s memories of Madrigal, however, are of “a guy that can hit.” Nicknamed Nicky Two Strikes, for his bat-to-ball skills in two-strike counts, Madrigal posted a .317 batting average in his White Sox tenure.

“He’s going to hit, and hit, and keep on hitting,” Anderson said. “That’s what he does.”

Madrigal has yet to prove that on the North Side. He was hitting .215 entering Wednesday. But he saw promising signs in the Crosstown Classic.

“The ball’s starting to slow down a little bit,” Madrigal said Tuesday. “I think I’m in a good place right now.”

The next day, he went 2-for-3. Madrigal made contact up the middle for his first hit, with White Sox center fielder Luis Robert sliding in to pick the ball on the hop. But Madrigal tried to stretch the single into a double, and Robert tossed the ball to Anderson from the ground for an easy tag out.

Then, in the eighth inning, Madrigal hit a single through the left side of the infield to move the would-be tying run to third – the Cubs stranded him there. Madrigal and Anderson got another chance to chat that inning when Madrigal took second base on defensive indifference.

Anderson standing at the bag and Madrigal jogging toward him was a different up the middle configuration than they were used to.

“We had a good time while he was here,” Anderson said. “More so just trying to help him along the way.”

Anderson was the reigning batting champion when Madrigal made his debut. But the shortstop said the rookie never needed help with hitting.

“I was really just trying to teach him as much as I could, how to be a clubhouse guy, how to be a great teammate, how to go out and compete and also have a little dog in you,” Anderson said.

Anderson said Madrigal did compete hard, and the “dog in him” was starting to come out before he tore his hamstring. Madrigal chalks it up to different playing styles.

“I appreciate everything he did for me,” Madrigal said. “He was someone that was always talking the game with me, when things were going good and bad. And we have the friendship on the field and off the field. We have a respect for each other. So, it does mean a lot he tried getting the most out of me.”

And now, Madrigal says it means a lot to hear how highly Anderson spoke of his hitting ability.

“I haven’t been up in the league all that long, but I feel like there have been spurts where I’ve done well,” Madrigal said. “And I’m excited to show what I can do over a full year. So, I’m hoping that’s this year, and we’ll see what happens.”

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The White Sox secured a two-game sweep with a 4-3 win over the Cubs on Wednesday at Wrigley Field.

The game started as a slug-off, with the first five runs of the contest scored via the home run. White Sox three-hole hitter Jose Abreu got things going with a solo shot off Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks in the first inning.

The Cubs rallied in the second, with a two-run home run from Nico Hoerner and a one-run bomb from Patrick Wisdom off White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito.

The White Sox matched their crosstown rivals’ home run count the next frame, as Leury Garcia dropped a leadoff homer into the basket, cutting the Cubs’ lead to one run. The four home runs were also the first four hits in the game.

The Cubs didn’t score again, but the White Sox started manufacturing runs with singles and doubles. Gavin Sheets drove in the tying run in the fourth inning, on a grounder through the left side of the field. A.J. Pollock delivered the go-ahead run with a bloop RBI single into shallow right field.

The White Sox and Cubs entered the series with nine wins apiece. The South Siders left it two games under .500 (11-13), and the North Siders slid to a 9-15 record.

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In southern California, where Lucas Giolito is from, it’s not like this.

It’s not freezing cold in May as it was Tuesday, or even low 40s chilly like Wednesday. And the SoCal rivalry between, say, the Dodgers and Angels is nothing like Cubs and White Sox.

Not among the fans, who, as Harry Caray might have said, got “good and loud” at Wrigley Field during the White Sox’ 4-3 victory over the Cubs Wednesday at Wrigley Field. They stood on their feet when reliever Matt Foster pitched out of a jam. Earlier, Tim Anderson’s waving towel from the Sox dugout kept them revved up.

“Honestly, there’s more between the Dodgers and [San Francisco] Giants, for sure,” Giolito said. “The Angels are down in Anaheim, it’s like a whole different place.”

For Chicago fans, the Cubs-Sox rivalry is an entirely different thing. Fights at Guaranteed Rate Field or Wrigley Field are not unusual in the stands, especially when the weather heats up. It’s not pretty, but for guys like Giolito, who wasn’t a fan of a particular team growing up, it’s more amusing than something to be understood. But it created an energy the Sox, who have started slowly this season, didn’t reject.

“This one, the emotions can get a little bit heightened at times,” Giolito said. “I’d say that’s kind of what the rivalry can do. But the focus is always the same, no matter who you’re playing.”

Giolito looked focused while allowing three runs but striking out a season-high 10 batters over 5 2/3 innings against the Cubs at Wrigley Field Wednesday.

Going for a two-game sweep after their 3-1 win the night before, the Sox gave Giolito a 1-0 lead on Jose Abreu’s homer in the left field basket in the first inning against Kyle Hendriks. It was Abreu’s eighth Wrigley homer in 78 at-bats.

Giolito struck out three of the first four batters he faced, then walked Frank Schwindel before allowing a home run to Nico Hoerner in the second. Two batters later, Patrick Wisdom homered to give the Cubs a 3-1 lead.

Another basket homer by Sox second baseman Leury Garcia in the third made it 3-2. Luis Robert, batting fourth for the first time in his career and continuing his hot hand against Cubs pitching with a 2-for-3 night plus a walk, doubled, went to third on Yasmani Grandal’s single and scored on Gavin Sheets’ soft single through the left side of the infield. It marked the fourth time Sheets has singled through a vacated position in a shift this season, and it tied the score at 3.

Another shift-defying hit, a bloop single with two out by AJ Pollock that landed in short right field beyond the sprawling reach of Cubs second baseman Nick Madrigal in the sixth, gave the Sox a 4-3 lead.

Giolito retired 11 of the last 13 batters he faced, getting lifted with two out in the sixth after walking Ian Happ on his 101st pitch. With Reynaldo Lopez pitching, Willson Contreras’ drive to deep center field sent Robert crashing his left shoulder into the brick wall after a running catch. Robert was slow to get up but stayed in the game.

With runners on second and third and one out, Foster, in relief of Aaron Bummer, got Seiya Suzuki on a foul pop to Sheets and struck out Ian Happ looking at strike three.

Liam Hendriks pitched a perfect ninth, collecting his second save of the two-game series sweep and ending it by striking out Hoerner.

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The daily injury update for the White Sox was a mixed bag Wednesday. Andrew Vaughn is “most probably” headed to the injury list after missing his fifth game in a row with a sore right hand, manager Tony La Russa said.

“The bruise is deep and it’s in an area where it’s a tough spot to handle it,” La Russa said. “It just alters everything you do so we’re definitely re-thinking and I guess there’s still an option where he can get healthy and he can swing really and get back in shape.”

That would be the IL. Vaughn was hit by a pitch Friday against the Angels and x-rays were negative. But there was still “tons of inflammation” five days later, he said.

“It’s kind of progressed, but it’s still aching when I swing, real bad,” Vaughn said. “Like it’s kind of blocking me from swinging because of the pain. I feel it all the time.”

On the plus side, third baseman Yoan Moncada and right-handed reliever Joe Kelly will likely wrap up their rehabilitation assignments with Triple-A Charlotte this weekend and could be reinstated when the Sox open a home stand against the Cleveland Guardians Monday.

Vaughn would miss at least another seven days, and will probably go on the 10-day IL before the Sox open a three-game series in Boston Friday. The most an IL stint can be backdated is three days.

Vaughn, 24, was leading the Sox with four homers when he went down and was one of their top hitters with a .283/.367/.566 hitting line and .933 OPS.

Moncada, Kelly close; Cueto, too?

Kelly (right biceps nerve), signed to a two-year, $17 million contract, was expected to make his second appearance for Charlotte Wednesday. Moncada (right oblique strain) was 4-for-11 with a home run in three games through Tuesday. Neither player has appeared with the Sox this season.

Right-hander Johnny Cueto made what was likely his last start for Charlotte and could also join the team next week.

Third baseman Jake Burger, who has played a lot of third base in Moncada’s absence, came to the park feeling sore after crashing into the side wall tracking a foul ball that was well out of his reach Tuesday night. Burger stayed in the game and was not in Wednesday’s lineup.

*Eloy Jimenez (hamstring) played catch and fielded soft fungoes from coach Daryl Boston. Jimenez is expected to be out another five to seven weeks.

Pitching hurts

Managers constantly juggle bullpen usage not only according to matchups and game situations but how their relievers feel on a given day. Working more than two days in a row is usually off limits.

At times pitchers are available only a pinch even if they were off the previous day, which explains why La Russa handed righty Matt Foster the eighth inning of a 3-1 game against the Cubs Tuesday. It was the highest leveraged appearance for Foster, who has allowed one earned run in seven appearances over 11 innings.

Kendall Graveman was not available, La Russa said.

“It’s common sense,” La Russa said. “It’s early. We have been pushing him, and it’s a long season. And we’ve got a deep bullpen.”

Closer Liam Hendriks said pitchers are always sore to some degree or another.

“We usually have this conversation in the bullpen, especially with the young guys,” Hendriks said, “when is the last time you’ve pitched without pain? Last year, I was talking to Craig [Kimbrel] last year and his was 2014, mine was right around 2014 as well. Can’t remember the last time we’ve thrown without something going on.”

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Cubs manager David Ross had high praise for left fielder Ian Happ’s start to this season.

“The MVP of our group probably would be Ian Happ for me,” he said before the Cubs faced the White Sox on Wednesday.

Happ’s strong start is reflective of adjustments he’s made over the past year.

“From both sides of the plate, obviously right handed, much improved,” Ross said. “The home run off Max Fried, going the other way, multiple hits to the other side early in the season from the right side. And obviously, his continued patience at the plate from the left side and driving runs in, taking his walks. He’s been a real staple to the middle of our lineup and a really big piece for us.”

Happ entered play Wednesday leading qualified Cubs hitters in batting average (.304) and on-base percentage (.424). Seiya Suzuki still held the best slugging percentage (.500).

Happ’s splits have traditionally favored his left-handed swing, but he’s begun this season batting .364 from the right side (22 at-bats) and .277 from the left (47 at-bats).

Happ has also made a number of notable plays in the outfield including a couple diving catches.

“The defense has improved so much, and the way he’s playing outfield for us,” Ross said, “the way he’s moving, the way he’s running the bases.”

A couple weeks into the season, Suzuki led the team in most offensive categories. But as Suzuki’s production has slowed recently – he’d recorded three hits in his last 28 at-bats entering Wednesday – Happ’s has held steady.

Suzuki, of course, is a month into his debut Major League Baseball season, whereas Happ is long past that initial transition period.

“Now you’re seeing the league adjust,” Ross said of Suzuki. “And he’s also in that same boat of adjusting back to pitchers and seeing a lot of these guys for the first and second time again.”

Contreras returns to lineup

Cubs catcher Willson Contreras was back at the lineup and behind the plate Wednesday, after taking three games off from catching. He served as the designated hitter on Saturday in Milwaukee.

Ross announced Tuesday that Contreras was available off the bench but had been dealing with a minor undisclosed ailment.

Miley on rehab assignment

Cubs left-hander Wade Miley left Chicago for a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa. The veteran is scheduled to pitch on Thursday.

Miley, who the Cubs signed this past winter, began the season on the 10-day injured list with left elbow inflammation. When he returns, Miley will add another veteran presence to the Cubs’ rotation.

Rotation shuffle

The Cubs have adjusted their rotation plans after having reliever Scott Effross start in Drew Smyly’s place Tuesday when they placed Smyly on the bereavement list. The Cubs’ probable starter Friday, in the series opener against the Dodgers, is to be determined. But Smyly could start then if he returns by Friday.

Lefty Justin Steele is scheduled to start Saturday and right-hander Marcus Stroman is set to take the mound Sunday.

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“How confident should we be about Justin Fields and the opportunity he is getting in Chicago? The Bears saddled the quarterback with a lame-duck head coach as a rookie, then took away his No. 1 wide receiver by allowing Allen Robinson to leave for the Rams this offseason.

Absent a first-round pick (that went to the Giants in the Fields draft trade last year), Chicago opted to wait until the third round in Vegas to address the offense. Perhaps Tennessee wideout Velus Jones Jr. carves out a role as a rookie, but it’s more likely Fields will be staring down a lot of blanketed receivers when he drops back to pass this fall. Give the kid a chance!”

Winning seven or eight games this season will not make Bears fans happy. Seven or eight games is probably the worst position an NFL team can be in, because they can’t make the playoffs. And they’re not bad enough to get a top draft pick to help the team get better for the next season.

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After using just one of their 11 draft picks on a wide receiver last week, the Bears added another Wednesday by claiming Chris Finke off waivers from the Chiefs.

The Chiefs waived Finke on Tuesday without him ever playing a game for them. He went undrafted out of Notre Dame in 2020 and has been with the 49ers and Chiefs, but hasn’t appeared in a game.

He was consistently productive over his final two seasons at Notre Dame, totaling 91 catches, 1,027 yards and six touchdowns in 24 games over 2018 and ’19.

The pickup gives the Bears nine receivers on their active roster, led by third-year player Darnell Mooney and free agent additions Byron Pringle and Equanimeous St. Brown. They also drafted Velus Jones out of Tennessee in the third round last week.

Finke is on the 90-man roster and would go through offseason practices with the team if it keeps him. The Bears have rookie minicamp this week and begin Organized Team Activities on May 16.

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