| Date | Location | Score | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| May Series — Wrigley Field | |||
| May 11 | Wrigley Field | Cubs 11–2 | Cubs W: Chatwood L: Fulmer. HR: Contreras 2 (2 & 3), Bryant (7). Contreras homers twice. Cubs pour it on early. |
| May 12 | Wrigley Field | Cubs 8–4 | Cubs W: Lester L: Shields SV: Morrow. HR: Davidson (10), Rizzo (6), Contreras (4). Contreras hits his 3rd HR of the series. |
| May 13 | Wrigley Field | Sox 5–3 | White Sox W: Giolito L: Hendricks SV: Rondon. HR: Davidson (11). Sox avoid the sweep. Giolito’s first strong Crosstown start. |
| September Series — Guaranteed Rate Field | |||
| Sept 21 | Guaranteed Rate Field | Sox 10–4 | White Sox W: R. Lopez L: Quintana. HR: Murphy (12), Smith (2), Palka (27). Quintana gets lit up by his former team. That has to sting. |
| Sept 22 | Guaranteed Rate Field | Cubs 8–3 | Cubs W: Lester L: Giolito. HR: Baez (5), Anderson (20). Baez and Tim Anderson each go deep. |
| Sept 23 | Guaranteed Rate Field | Cubs 6–1 | Cubs W: Hendricks L: Rodon. HR: Schwarber (26). Hendricks quiets the Sox to close the series. |
The 2018 Crosstown Classic belonged to Willson Contreras. The Cubs catcher homered three times across the first two games of the May series at Wrigley, driving in the Cubs both nights before the Sox salvaged the finale behind Lucas Giolito.
The September series at Guaranteed Rate Field had a delicious subplot: Jose Quintana, traded from the Sox to the Cubs in July 2017, started Game 4 for the Cubs — and got lit up by his former team 10-4. The Sox poured it on. Tim Anderson homered. Daniel Palka, one of the forgotten names of that Sox rebuild era, hit his 27th HR. Sox win big.
The Cubs answered with back-to-back wins to take the series 4-2. Jon Lester won twice. Kyle Hendricks shut them down in the finale. Schwarber HR. Cubs take the series.
The 2018 Cubs finished 95-68 and won the NL Central. The Sox were 62-100, deep in their rebuild. The talent gap remained enormous — but the pieces were assembling quietly. After 2018: Sox 60, Cubs 58. The gap was down to 2. Then 2019 would close it entirely.
Also: “By the way, in case you hadn’t heard, the Chicago Cubs went on to win the World Series in 2016! Seriously, no joke, they did! We mention this a lot because, well, even though Eddie sang ‘Someday we’ll go all the way’, a lot didn’t think it would ever happen. The Sox did it in 2005, they broke the drought, the Cubs followed through 11 years later. With this Sox rebuild and their team on the move — will we finally see a real World Series Crosstown Classic soon?”