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BOSTON — The White Sox have caught the attention of players around the major leagues, and it’s not just because they’re vastly exceeding expectations.It’s because they’re having a ball doing it.“It’s hard to miss,” new center fielder Brenton Doyle said Tuesday, “whether it’s the wizardry going on or just everyone always having a blast in the dugout — big smiles, a lot of energy. I think that goes a long way, especially in this sport. You got to keep good vibes throughout the whole year.”Doyle was one of two players the White Sox acquired before the trade deadline Monday, along with catcher Joey Bart, who started in their first game with their new team Tuesday against the surging Red Sox. Doyle is excited to join the party.“I admired it from afar and always thought they were having so much fun out there,” said Doyle, who came from the Rockies, with whom he won two Gold Gloves (2023-24). “The energy was off the charts.”Bart, who came from the Braves after starting the season with the Pirates, also noticed the Sox’ vibe, but in a different way.“Seeing Mike Vasil on ‘SportsCenter’ every night,” Bart said of the White Sox’ wizard in chief. “I got to know him in the offseason. He’s a great dude. Just seems like a lot of fun energy. Seems like guys are playing pretty loose. Usually that’s how you end being good.”With the Red Sox starting left-hander Patrick Sandoval, manager Will Venable put both right-handed-hitting Bart and Doyle in the lineup. He said that’s how he’ll use Doyle, who will platoon with Tristan Peters in center. Bart and Drew Romo will split time behind the plate.Edgar Quero was the odd man out at catcher, demoted to Triple-A Charlotte despite a recent run of success at the plate. He had five hits in his last 14 at-bats, including a walk-off single to beat the Yankees. But the Sox preferred keeping Romo and adding Bart.“That was a tough decision,” Venable said. “He made it tougher than the last time we had to make the same decision. There’s two parts to the decision: One is Romo behind the plate, the X-factor qualities that he brings; also the objective things defensively that he brings we really like, we’ve been benefitting from.”Bart has the challenge of learning his third pitching staff this season. He told Venable he was on his computer studying up on the White Sox’ staff soon after being traded.“It takes some time to build relationships with everybody,” Bart said. “It’s something I’ve done before. I’ve done it a couple times now. Just using the resources, talking to everybody. Trying to figure out what makes them go. The sooner we can bridge that gap, the better. But it does always take a little bit of time.”Doyle is healthy again after missing two months with an oblique injury that frustrated him because he went three consecutive seasons without going on the injury list.“Really dynamic athlete, is as fast as anybody in the league,” Venable said. “Plus defender; a guy that had to cover a lot of ground in center field at Coors Field. And on days he’s not playing, to have those types of legs on the bench, a guy who can come in and steal a bag, do some things on the bases and defensively, as well, is going to be a nice thing to have for us.”What’s nice for Doyle after enduring three consecutive 100-loss seasons with the Rockies is a shot at the playoffs — much like it is for Sox fans.“It’s huge,” Doyle said. “I’ve never really come close to being part of playoff baseball. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity, and I’m thankful for the White Sox to give it to me.” Latest on the White sox White Sox GM Chris Getz accomplishes his goals; will that help players accomplish theirs? Getz was beaming when he met with the media after the trade deadline Monday. Still, he was a bit tired. “Feel like I’ve gone through a day-night doubleheader myself,” he said. [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   By Jeff Agrest read Guardians strengthen rotation, offense as they chase White Sox in AL Central Cleveland acquired All-Star pitcher Foster Griffin from the Nationals for four players, strengthening one of baseball’s top rotations. The Guardians also got outfielder Jo Adell from the Angels and first baseman Nathaniel Lowe from the Reds. [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   By AP read White Sox acquire Braves catcher Joey Bart, who'll play for his third team this year Bart hasn’t provided much offense, but it’s more than the Sox have gotten from their current catchers. [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   By Jeff Agrest read White Sox get outfielder Brenton Doyle from Rockies for two prospects, including pitcher Mason Adams Adams is the eighth-ranked prospect in the Sox’ system. [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   By Jeff Agrest read

A 21-year-old man has been charged with fatally shooting two teen girls in separate incidents on the East Side dating back to 2024, according to Chicago police.Anthony Nunnally faces two counts of first-degree murder in the killings of Gabriella Arellano, 17, and Sierra Evans, 19, police announced Tuesday.Arellano was found shot twice in the head in the 11000 block of South Mackinaw Avenue on Oct. 26, 2025, according to police.Evans was found outside with gunshot wounds in the 9500 block of South Avenue N on Sept. 28, 2024, police said.Nunnally was due in court Wednesday, police said.

On one side of the Great Dodgers-Cubs Gap now stands Tarik Skubal, the best left-handed pitcher on the planet, maybe the finest hurler of ’em all.Skubal, the grand prize of the trade deadline, was on the mound Tuesday at Wrigley Field for the two-time defending world champion Dodgers, a colossus of an organization that takes whatever it wants, destroys everything in its path, spends insatiably on its roster and seemingly exists for the sole purpose of winning the final game of each and every season.‘‘The entire focus of this organization is on winning championships,’’ Skubal told reporters after arriving at Wrigley for a three-game series against a Cubs team the Dodgers could see again in October.The Cubs only can hope to get another crack at Skubal in a Game 1 at Dodger Stadium when that time comes, not that facing the 2024 and 2025 American League Cy Young winner is ever a picnic.Cubs fans booed Skubal as he stretched in right field before the game and again as he emerged from the bullpen and walked to the dugout. History will show his first batter faced in Dodger blue was one of the biggest stars in baseball, Pete Crow-Armstrong, who watched strike three — a 99 mph sinker — blow by. Not on record will be the perceptible added pep in the steps of Skubal’s new teammates, a pair of whom, outfielders Andy Pages and Kyle Tucker, made three diving catches between them in the early innings as Skubal navigated his way through the Cubs’ batting order.Skubal went six innings, allowing a Dansby Swanson homer and a two-out, run-scoring infield hit by Nico Hoerner, and left with the Dodgers down 2-1. dansby left no doubt about that one. pic.twitter.com/31VULxP4vH— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 5, 2026 Is Skubal the missing piece the Dodgers needed to make it three titles in a row? No, they already had more than enough to pull it off without him. But now they might go into the postseason as one of the heaviest favorites ever.And barring the unforeseeable, Skubal will be the Game 1 starter in a rotation that might be so strong come playoff time that it’s almost mind-boggling to contemplate. While other teams, including the Cubs, will hope to have three or four legitimately worthy arms to start the most important games of the season, the Dodgers — if healthy — will have to choose among Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki, not to mention current 11-game winner Justin Wrobleski.‘‘I’m not going to sit here and say I’m the big piece,’’ Skubal said. ‘‘They’ve been a pretty good team without me.’’The filthy rich get filthy richer, and so it goes.In the wake of the trade deadline, there are many questions being asked with regard to the Dodgers’ unsurprising acquisition of Skubal, who is 29 and a pending free agent.Why were they able to land him from the Tigers for a prospect package that doesn’t seem to have wowed anybody?Why wasn’t this the occasion of all occasions for the soaring Brewers, with their elite farm system, to go for the jugular and better position themselves — imagine a 1-2 of Skubal and Jacob Misiorowski — to at last win a World Series?Oh, and this one: Are the Dodgers ruining baseball? When the team that leads all others in annual revenue — $850 million in 2025, according to Forbes’ annual valuations — adds a Skubal-sized piece to what already was a mountainous collection of talent and a monstrous payroll, it’s bound to add fuel to MLB owners’ arguments for addressing competitive imbalance with a salary cap. Some already are envisioning a line from the Skubal trade to a shutdown of the 2027 season.But back to the Great Dodgers-Cubs Gap, which is as evident as ever.Since the Cubs eliminated the Dodgers in the 2016 National League Championship Series, the Dodgers have averaged more than 100 victories per season and 17 more than the Cubs — a massive difference. The Dodgers are on pace to finish with a better record than the Cubs for the eighth season in a row.Yes, the Dodgers easily outspend the Cubs on players — a $700 million contract for Ohtani, $365 million for Mookie Betts, $325 million for Yamamoto, $240 million for Tucker, $162 million for Freddie Freeman, on and on, all of it staggering. But their outlay for payroll and luxury-tax penalties also equals a significantly higher percentage of their total revenue than the Cubs spend. Again, the Dodgers are all in it to win it in a way almost nobody else is.It’s a heck of a gap, though the Cubs, after their own excellent trade deadline, do have hope of getting to the World Series themselves. After all, five 100-plus-victory Dodgers teams in the last decade have failed to win it all.‘‘It’s our job and everyone else’s job to try to make [a Dodgers three-peat] not happen,’’ Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said.It’s going to require some kind of a heavy lift, that’s for sure. Related Jed Hoyer gets aggressive at trade deadline, deals prospects with Cubs’ present in mind: ‘We’re here to win’ Cubs want to rule baseball world, but after trade deadline, they still need to get past juggernaut Dodgers Cubs continue to bolster rotation, net Clay Holmes in swap with Mets

Craig Counsell wasn’t exactly harboring a secret about Ian Happ.“Ian’s struggled against left-handed pitching this year, there’s no question,” the Cubs’ manager said before Tuesday’s game.For a second straight night against a Dodgers southpaw starter, the Cubs’ left fielder did not start in left field, out of the lineup partially as a break during the team’s stretch of 17 games in 17 days – and partially as an acknowledgement that the team has better options at this moment in time.Perhaps no lefty in the game is as formidable as the one the Dodgers threw Tuesday night, their earth-shattering trade-deadline acquisition Tarik Skubal.It hasn’t mattered, though, whether the left-hander Happ’s gone up against has been a two-time Cy Young winner or not. He hasn’t hit them, coming into Tuesday with a .530 OPS against lefties – only eight of baseball’s qualified hitters started the day with a lower mark – versus his .820 number against righties.Counsell didn’t make this sound like a permanent banishment for the All Star and Gold Glover, one of the mainstays in the Cubs’ lineup. But with outfielder Tyrone Taylor in on a trade-deadline deal with the Mets, there’s somewhere else to turn, for the moment, at least.Team president Jed Hoyer revealed Monday that Taylor fulfilled what was on Counsell’s deadline wishlist: a right-handed hitter he could bring off the bench, something the Cubs were lacking with utility man Matt Shaw sidelined for the last month and a half with a hand sprain that refuses to go away.Taylor arrived Tuesday with a .301 batting average and a .900 OPS in 77 plate appearances against lefties this season.“Ian’s still going to play against some lefties,” Counsell said. “But Tyrone gives us somebody, he’s going to get at-bats against left-handed pitching, for sure, and we’ll just take it from there.”A night earlier, Kevin Alcantara started in left field. He hit his first big league homer in the Cubs’ win over the Dodgers, was subbed out for Happ once the lefty starter exited and was sent to the minors upon Taylor’s arrival.Might that be the playbook, at least in the immediate future? We’ll see. Given Happ’s track record, it’s possible one breakout performance against lefties could win back however much playing time he’s set to lose.But for now, Tyrone Taylor, come on down.Tough on TuckerFans let former Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker know how they felt about his decision to ink a big-money free-agent deal with the juggernaut Dodgers, booing the outfielder at every turn during the first two games of a three-game series this week at Wrigley Field.The Cubs acquired Tucker in a trade two offseasons ago, and he made the NL All-Star team after a spectacular first half last season. He was injured and slumped during the second half before leaving for free agency and $240 million from the back-to-back champs.Whether Cubs fans felt spurned or just booed someone who joined baseball’s best team – Skubal, for example, received a similar treatment – they let Tucker have it.Then Tucker let them have it, homering off Javier Assad in the second inning Tuesday.Comeback trailA trio of injured Cubs pitchers – lefty reliever Hoby Milner, righty starter Edward Cabrera and righty closer Daniel Palencia – are making their way back with minor league rehab appearances set for Wednesday with Triple-A Iowa.New bullpen armThe Cubs added righty reliever Ryan Zeferjahn to the active roster Tuesday after acquiring him in a deadline deal Monday, designating righty Jake Woodford for assignment to make room.

The Will County sheriff’s office issued a shelter in place order for a Homer Glen neighborhood because of an ongoing 'barricaded' situation.Sheriff's deputies responded to the 13200 block of Maverick Trail after 4 p.m. to help other law enforcement officers with a "barricaded subject,” the office said on social media. Residents on the street were ordered to shelter in place and Maverick Trail was closed at Woodland and Parker.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.