Interleague baseball begins on Friday afternoon where the Chicago Cubs host their crosstown rival White Sox at Wrigley Field.
With the NATO Summit continuing on the southside of Chicago, baseball fans converge on the North Side for a rivalry that always creates a buzz.
“It’s not the playoffs, but it’s kind of somewhere in between the regular season and playoffs,” first baseman Paul Konerko told his team’s website. “It always kind of has that feel – it’s heightened.”
Both teams could use it, now trodding through below .500 records and sitting somewhere in the middle of their divisions.
The Cubs could use the electricity after being flooded by Philadelphia’s meager offense for eight runs in an 8-7 loss, their third-straight defeat.
Playing in Wrigley means the White Sox can’t use a designated hitter, but that doesn’t mean Adam Dunn will sit. The Comeback Player of the Year who leads the team with 12 homers will play in left. He’s 1 for 2 with a home run against Cubs’ starter Jeff Samardzija.
Samardzija is 2-0 with a 1.03 ERA in his last four starts, and has been his team’s best starter so far. The Cubs are 6-1 in his starts, while 9-22 with anyone else on the bump.
“I think (the season) is just going in the right direction with how I feel and how my pitches are coming out,” he told his team’s website. “Obviously, you need to get better every time out and I think I’ve been trying to improve and seeing how teams approach me at the plate.”
Philip Humber will battle against him, and seems to finally be evening out after a crazy four-game span. Humber threw a perfect game on April 21, only to get pounded in his next three starts. Last week, he gave up just one run in 6 2/3 innings in a 9-1 victory against the Kansas City Royals.
He’ll need to look out for Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro, though, who has five 
RBI in his last five games. He’s a career .393 hitter with five RBI in his last seven against the Sox.
The White Sox have won six of their last nine meetings against the Cubs, including four of six last year.
The Cubs are favored by 1 1/2 runs with a -140 moneyline, according to Bovada’s White Sox vs. Cubs Betting Lines.