One person was killed and three others were wounded by gunfire Friday in Chicago.

A 37-year-old man was sitting in his vehicle about 7:45 p.m. in the 4400 block of North Hamlin Avenue when another vehicle drove up and someone from inside fired shots, Chicago police said.

After the shooting, the man fled and struck multiple cars, causing his vehicle to turn over, police said.

He was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said. His name hasn’t been released.

Hours later, a man and woman, 54 and 28, were found on the ground with gunshot wounds in the 700 block of East 73rd Street about 11:15 p.m., police said.

The woman was shot throughout the body and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where she was in critical condition, officials said.

The man was shot in the right calf and was taken to the same hospital in good condition, authorities said.

Earlier in the day, a man, 47, was in the 4900 block of West Gladys Avenue about 1:30 p.m. when he was shot in the upper left arm and grazed in the head, police said.

He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was in good condition, police said.

Two people were killed and seven others wounded Thursday in shootings in Chicago.

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BOSTON — When last seen, Vince Velasquez was standing in a driving rain Saturday at Guaranteed Rate Field, battling Mike Trout in the sixth inning during a masterful start, easily his best performance of the young season.

When the umpires called for the tarp, effectively ending Velasquez’ day, he stood there, smiling and talking with Trout, both wanting to finish the duel. It was one of the neater moments of an April lacking for neat ones on the South Side.

Velasquez probably couldn’t wait for Friday to bring what he had that day to Fenway Park to face the Red Sox, and while skeptics wondered if he could spin two good games in a row, he did just that with five innings of one-run ball in a 4-2 White Sox victory.

The White Sox were going for their fourth straight win and fifth in six games, a stretch that began with Velasquez’ 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a 4-0 win against the Angels, his first win since last June 29 with the Phillies.

Against the scuffling Red Sox (10-17), Velasquez worked ahead in the count and threw 49 of 75 pitches for strikes. He allowed a run on three hits, walking two and striking out two, lowering his ERA to 3.94.

He’s pitching like someone who wants to stay in the rotation that currently includes Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech and Dallas Keuchel with Johnny Cueto possibly arriving from Triple-A Charlotte next week and Lance Lynn expected back after knee surgery as soon as the end of the month.

Velasquez left with a 3-1 lead thanks to a sac fly by Jose Abreu and home run by Luis Robert against Nathan Eovaldi in the third. Robert, who survived a run-in with the center field bricks at Wrigley Field two nights earlier, showed he was none the worse for wear when he skied one over the Green Monster in left field with AJ Pollock on base. Robert’s homer, his fourth of the season tying him with Tim Anderson and Andrew Vaughn for the team lead, came after Abreu plated Anderson with a sacrifice fly.

Anderson had three singles, raising his average to .330. Two of the hits were against Nathan Eovaldi, who entered with a 2.51 ERA but needed 101 pitches to get through five innings.

Adam Engel, who pinch hit for left fielder Gavin Sheets and stayed in the game in right field as a defensive upgrade, helped the Sox stretch the lead to 4-1 when he singled, stole second, advanced to third on a flyout and scored on Reese McGuire’s sacrifice fly.

With Kendall Graveman pitching, Engel let Jarren Duran’s sinking liner get past him for a leadoff triple in the bottom of the inning, and Trevor Story’s RBI groundout cut the White Sox lead to 4-2.

Liam Hendriks struck out three batters in a scoreless ninth for his eighth save. Against the Cubs Wednesday, Hendriks recorded his 85th career save to become the all-time leader among Australian-born players. He surpassed Grant Balfour (84 career saves).

It had been an emotional night for Hendriks, whose grandfather died before the game. On his Instagram account, Hendriks said he hasn’t been home to see him since 2019 because of restrictions and “was overwhelmed by emotion and the memories of him.”

Velasquez was 0-7 with a 13.50 ERA and .364 opponents average in his previous seven road starts. The Sox signed Velasquez to a one-year, $3 million contract as a free agent March 13 as rotation depth and a project for pitching coach Ethan Katz. Velasquez was 3-9 with a 6.30 ERA last season with the Phillies and Padres, pitching in 25 games including 21 starts.

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BOSTON — Two days at Wrigley Field, three at Fenway Park, all in a week. It’s like a baseball history tour for the White Sox. And for rookies like left-hander Tanner Banks, who along with fellow rookie relief pitcher Bennett Sousa, Jake Burger, Gavin Sheets and Ryan Burr went exploring inside the Green Monster Friday, the aura of the place wasn’t lost on them.

“There is something about an energy in a major league stadium you can’t get anywhere else,” Banks said Friday, “but then you come to these iconic, century-old ballparks and think of the greats who graced these halls and played on this field.”

Fenway has been home of the Red Sox since 1912.

“It’s cool. It’s history. It’s where baseball originated,” Sheets said.

Banks is a feel-good story enjoying the majors for the first time. At age 30, he was beginning to wonder if he’d get to play in a big league park, let alone Fenway. And he wasn’t leaving Boston without checking out the big green wall.

Inside, “you feel that energy of not just the present game but those who came before,” he said.

“There were so many names in there, thousands. And we got to write our names up there and you think, ‘Is this going to be around another 100 years? Is the ink going to fade? I guess it’s our jobs to make that ink have meaning.”

With Andrew Vaughn on the IL and manager Tony La Russa playing a more defensively polished AJ Pollock in the more spacious right field, Sheets, a first baseman by trade, played left by the Monster. It was all meaningful, he said.

“The newer clubhouses are nicer and have all the cool stuff but knowing the guys who walked through these doors and played here, that is the fun part,” Sheets said.

With a 1.29 ERA over 14 innings and eight appearances, Banks can feel like he came with some cred. But he knows getting to the big leagues is one thing and staying is another.

“It remains to be seen,” Banks said. “You have to do your job, get outs and give your team a chance to win.”

Rotation plans

Dylan Cease will start Saturday on regular rest and Dallas Keuchel Sunday on six days. Johnny Cueto, signed to a minor league contract, has had enough work at Triple-A Charlotte and is a possibility to join the team next week, although La Russa wasn’t specific about a plan with six starters in the mix.

“He’s in the discussion now,” La Russa said. “He’s made enough starts, so we are talking about him. So, the best thing is he’s in the conversations. We’ll see what the result is.”

The Sox have 18 games in the next 17 days with a doubleheader in Kansas City May 17.

“We are just going to try to really analyze how guys are throwing and if they need extra time,” La Russa said.

Michael Kopech will start Monday when the Sox return home to play the Guardians.

Vaughn on mend

Vaughn, who landed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Monday, received a cortisone shot for the bruise in his right hand. Manager Tony La Russa was hopeful Vaughn would return when he’s eligible Thursday against the Yankees, although the issue of whether he’ll need at-bats at Triple-A Charlotte might come into play.

“We are going to miss him here,” La Russa said.

La Russa said X-rays and MRI were “clean.”

“There’s no damage in there,” he said.

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Even as the feeling that the Bears should have used at least one of their two second-round picks on a wide receiver lingers, the two players they picked have tremendous potential as they begin their careers together in the secondary.

Cornerback Kyler Gordon (No. 39 overall) and safety Jaquan Brisker (No. 48) got together this week for the first time and dreamed of their future. This could be an essential partnership as coach Matt Eberflus works to establish his defense.

“As we build our relationship, I think it’ll definitely benefit us,” Gordon said of Brisker. “We definitely talk about getting the playbook and pushing each other along and stuff, so I think it’ll be good for us. I’m happy I’ve got him on my side.”

Bears fans could eventually see it that way, too,and let go of thedisappointment thatgeneral manager Ryan Poles didn’t use one of those picks on a high-flying wide receiver.

The priorities in the modern NFL are to pass and stop the pass. Teams with great quarterbacks are almost always good. Teams that can thwart those quarterbacks also like their chances.

And the secondary that Eberflus and Poles inherited was alarming.

Few defenses were easier to throw on than the Bears last season. Despite being near the top of the NFL in sacks, the Bears allowed a league-worst 103.3 passer rating and gave up the third-most touchdown passes at 31. Jaylon Johnson was the only cornerback among the regulars to hold quarterbacks below 65% completions when they threw his way.

But Gordon and Brisker are eager to correct that. And quite a few factors stack in their favor as they begin.

Both are widely considered exceptional talents, and there’s clearly an expectation for them to be Week 1 starters. Poles disregarded Gordon at points during his pre-draft prep because he thought it was simply unrealistic to think he’d be available that late, and he thought Brisker’s aggressive, hard-hitting style embodied everything he intends this team to be.

They’ll also benefit from the chemistry they’ve already started forming, and it’s significant that the first NFL defense they’ll learn is Eberflus’. Everything they’ll know about playing defense at this level, they’ll learn from him and defensive coordinator Alan Williams.

“They’re starting at the floor and working their way up,” Eberflus said. “Those guys will have that special bond with each other and they’re going to learn it as they go. They’re very intelligent and they’re going to work together. That’s going to be exciting to watch.”

If they’re good quickly, Gordon and Brisker could flip the secondary from a total liability to the strongest part of the Bears’ defense.

One of the best assets Eberflus saw when he walked in the door was Johnson, a superb parting gift left by Ryan Pace. And if this staff can get former all-pro safety Eddie Jackson to buy in, that secondary will start to look scary.

And if Jackson’s unwilling or unable to meet Eberflus’ demands, they’ll move forward molding Brisker into a star.

“The hitting is there,” Eberflus gushed. “The old terms that a lot of my mentors used to use is quickness, instincts and striking ability, and that’s what he has… What a positive energy guy, too, and you can really feel the light coming out of him.”

The Bears badly need some rays of light after the last three seasons.

It’s better for Gordon and Brisker that they missed all of that. Instead, their arrival coincides with the reset. So they’re learning, but so is everyone else. Fresh faces for a fresh start.

“It’s a great opportunity — a new staff, a lot of new people,” Brisker said. “Everybody wants to change this around, and that’s what they brought me here to [do]. It fits right.”

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Bears rookie Velus Jones remembers the exact moment he knew he was a kick returner.

“Pop Warner, when I was in park league,” said Jones, a 6-0, 204-pound wide receiver taken in the third round of the draft last week. “When I had my first kickoff return against a real good park league team [that] at the time had lost one game since we were four years old, and we were 10 at the time. [That’s when] I realized sky’s the limit.”

As Jones remembers that moment, he was just winging it as a 10-year-old in youth football. But even then he showed some instinct for the nuance involved in returning kicks.

“We didn’t have no field, middle or boundary return,” he said. “The ball was just rolling on the ground and I picked it up. But I remember at a point that I was slow picking it up so I could bring them in a little more, and then I picked it up and I knew I could get away with speed. And then I just followed my blocks.”

That’s all well and good, but Jones more than likely is going to have to show that same athleticism and intuition as a wide receiver to give the Bears what they were looking for when they took Jones with the 71st overall pick in the draft.

Jones, in fact, has the highest draft pedigree of anyone in the Bears’current wide receiver corps — a notably nondescript group headed by Darnell Mooney (fifth round, 173rd overall in 2020), Byron Pringle (undrafted in 2018), Equanimeous St. Brown (6-207 in 2018), David Moore (7-226 in 2017), Isaiah Coulter (5-171 in 2020) and Dazz Newsome (6-221 in 2021).

As much as any of them, Jones will be an interesting early test of the new Bears regime’s ability to identify, develop and maximize talent. Jones comes in with modest college production –62 receptions for 807 yards (13.0 avg.) and seven touchdowns at Tennessee last season. He was projected to go in the fifth round of the draft — about 150th overall –before the Bears took him 71st overall. But his speed (4.31 at the Combine), athleticism, run-after-catch and jet-sweep potential make him an intriguing offensive weapon.

But players like that — especially a developmental player such as Jones –often are the beneficiary of a good offense as much as an initiator. Tarik Cohen withered in Matt Nagy’s offense. Cordarrelle Patterson was underproductive in it — he had much more success with the Falcons last season. But Jones’ versatility gives Getsy something to work with.

“I was talking to Luke the other day about the special attributes that [Jones] has and he’s got a big plan for him,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. “He’s going to look at his skill set and then we’ll expand that role. Let’s start him out at receiver and then let’s see what he can do — moving him around to different spots and getting him the ball, because he is an explosive athlete.”

It remains to be seen if Jones can fully develop as a receiver while also handling kick-return duties. (Even the great Devin Hester struggled with both –his kick return production dropped significantly in 2008-09 when he became the Bears’ leading receiver, then picked up again in 2010-11 when he was not as big a part of the offense.) But Jones embraces the dual role.

“I want to win games and help this coaching staff win games,” Jones said. “I’m all about winning and any way I can affect the game, definitely in the return game and as a receiver. I’m blessed that I can do both because I can impact the game in different ways. I’m really excited about that. Wherever they need me to be, that’s where I’ll be.”

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