CHICAGO — The White Sox were looking for length from José Urquidy.
He provided that — and much more — in the City Series finale against the Cubs on Wednesday at Wrigley Field.
The right-hander, at times, was untouchable over six scoreless innings in a bulk role. He surrendered two hits, struck out eight and didn’t allow a walk in the 3-0 victory in front of 40,086.
“I was trying to compete and making quality pitches right there to the zone,” Urquidy said. “Trying to throw strikes early in the count. Trying to put hitters away and it worked. Trying to attack the corners with the plan we got before the game.
“And I think it worked. The secondary pitches, I was spinning the ball well. I think it was a little confusing for the hitters.”
Urquidy had the Cubs off-balance all afternoon as the Sox salvaged the finale of the three-game series. The teams split the season series 3-3.
“He did a great job of changing speeds,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “That’s probably what I’d say the most. Although it’s not a big velocity on the fastball, when he threw a fastball, it really surprised our hitters, and he had the offspeed stuff too, change-up to the righties, just the first-pitch breaking balls to get ahead of the righties.
“He just pitched really well, and he was in control of every at-bat, essentially. So, we didn’t get much going, and he pitched very, very well, and he kept us off-balance very, very well.”
Urquidy entered in the third after two scoreless innings from opener Sean Newcomb. Urquidy allowed a one-out single to Tyrone Taylor but struck out the next two batters. He struck out two more in the fourth inning and struck out the side in the fifth.
“He had everything working,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “Backdoor sinkers to the righties was really good. Really good spin, really good changeup.
“It was fun to watch.”
And it was just what the Sox needed. The team had openings in terms of finding length for the final two games heading into the series. Erick Fedde pitched well in that spot Tuesday, allowing three hits in 4 2/3 scoreless innings following opener Bryan Hudson.
And on Wednesday, it was Urquidy.
“I’ve been waiting for this kind of outing, trying to be dominant during the game,” Urquidy said. “I’m very happy to have this feeling.”
The Sox acquired Urquidy, who has pitched parts of seven seasons in the big leagues, in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 26 for minor league right-hander Félix Doroteo. Urquidy was called up from Triple-A on Friday after going 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in three starts with Charlotte.
He allowed three runs in 3 2/3 in his Sox debut Friday against the Detroit Tigers and followed it up with Wednesday’s strong performance.
“We knew him as a guy that can start for us — obviously today behind Newcomb — but a guy that we really like,” Venable said. “And obviously in Triple A he was performing well and then obviously we’ve seen him with two outings, has done a really nice job.”
When the Cubs threatened in the sixth with Taylor’s leadoff double, the defense stepped up. Pete Crow-Armstrong lined out to right field, and Braden Montgomery threw Taylor out while trying to advance to third.
“I was covering (behind third base) there and I saw the throw right to (third baseman) Miguel (Vargas), right in the chest,” Urquidy said. “I was very excited to see the throw.”
Montgomery said of his mindset as the play unfolded: “It’s more of now prepared for whatever could happen. If he doesn’t run, it has to be a throw low enough that the guy can cut it off. Then if he does run, it needs to be on line and you need to be able to get him.”
Left fielder Sam Antonacci made a leaping grab to rob Alex Bregman of an extra-base hit in the seventh. Venable graded the catch a “10 out of 10.”
“Really tough to negotiate the wind there, the basket, the ivy, a lot of factors there that he had to work through and obviously was able to make the play,” Venable said. “It was awesome.”
Urquidy’s reaction to the catch was “Wow.”
“I can’t explain,” he said. “I see him jumping too high to the wall and he caught it. It was a very impressive catch for sure.”
Offensive support for Urquidy came from Andrew Benintendi’s RBI single in the sixth inning and Braden Montgomery’s two-run double in the eighth.
Urquidy exited after the eighth. He threw 68 pitches, 51 of which were strikes. Newcomb, Urquidy and Grant Taylor combined for a two-hitter.
“What I got today is just competing and trying to throw strikes early,” Urquidy said. “Put hitters away and try to win the game. That’s my goal.”
He accomplished that goal as the Sox (66-60) avoided the sweep. They went 4-2 on the trip against the Tigers (3-0) and Cubs (1-2) and hold a four-game lead over the second-place Minnesota Twins (63-65) in the American League Central.
“You go 4-2 on that road trip, really every one of those games we’re in, we played well,” Venable said. “Of course we weren’t perfect, but just so proud of the guys to just continue to play good baseball.”
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