Rafael Ortega hit a grand slam, Patrick Wisdom hit two home runs for the second consecutive day and the Chicago Cubs cruised to a 7-0 victory over the host Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.

Robinson Chirinos also drove in a run for the Cubs, who evened the crosstown series at one win apiece heading into Sunday's rubber match. The Cubs defeated the White Sox for the first time in five tries this season.

Jose Abreu went 1-for-3 with a double, which marked the only extra-base hit for the White Sox.

Cubs right-hander Alec Mills (6-6) had his best start of the season and kept White Sox hitters off balance throughout the night. He scattered four hits in 8 1/3 innings while walking two and striking out three. His sixth victory marked a career high, surpassing his previous best mark of five wins from a season ago.

White Sox right-hander Lance Lynn (10-4) endured his worst outing of 2021. He gave up a season-high seven runs on seven hits, including three homers, in five innings. He walked two and struck out seven.

The Cubs opened the scoring in the top of the second. Matt Duffy ripped a leadoff single to right field, advanced to third base on a single by Jason Heyward and came home to score on a sacrifice by Chirinos.

Wisdom led off the fourth with a 407-foot blast to left field to increase the Cubs' lead to 2-0.

The Cubs loaded the bases later in the inning after a walk by Heyward, a single by Chirinos and a walk by Sergio Alcantara. That set the stage for Ortega, who belted a 362-foot shot down the right-field line to make it 6-0.

The homer was Ortega's eighth of the season, as well as his second career grand slam. He also hit a grand slam on Aug. 18, 2019, as a member of the Atlanta Braves in a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Wisdom struck yet again in the fifth. He hit a 362-foot shot to left field for his second homer of the game, his fourth of the series and his 25th of the season.

--Field Level Media