ARMOUR SQUARE — The Crosstown Classic will look a little different next year, as the White Sox and Cubs will face off later than they have since the annual series began.
The two Chicago teams will play a series at Guaranteed Rate Field from Sept. 21-23 in 2018, according to the White Sox schedule for next year that was released Tuesday. That's the latest the two teams have met since the city series began in 1997, according to Baseball Reference.
The teams will first meet May 11 for a three-game series at Wrigley Field.
For three of the last four years, the Cubs and Sox played one, four-game series split between both sides of the city. Next year's Crosstown Classic matchups are a return to a familiar format, where the two teams play a three-game series at each ballpark with a month or two between series.
But the teams have only met for an August series once, in 2015, and they've only played one game in September since 1997, when the teams played one game at Wrigley on Sept. 3, 2009, according to Baseball Reference.
With the Cubs in the thick of a pennant race this September, it's possible that the 2018 Cubs-Sox series at Guaranteed Rate Field could have an impact on each team's playoff hopes.
Other notable Sox games in 2018:
The White Sox will celebrate their home opener Thursday, April 5 vs. the Detroit Tigers. Both teams will have that Friday off, followed by two more games at Sox Park.
The team also will play a rare series in St. Louis when they face the Cardinals May 1-2. The Milwaukee Brewers will head to Guaranteed Rate Field for just the fourth time since the team moved to the National League, and the White Sox will travel to Cincinnati for for the fifth time in franchise history July 2-4.
Check out the rest of the White Sox 2018 schedule below:
The 2018 White Sox schedule [Provided/Chicago White Sox]
