It doesn’t matter if the White Sox or Cubs are off to a historically poor start, if they’re one of the best teams in baseball or somewhere in between.

“I feel like these games are always a little wacky against the White Sox,” Cubs starter Jameson Taillon said after the Cubs’ 7-6 win over their crosstown rival.

He couldn’t have summed it up any better.

The Cubs looked to be in cruise control, racing out to a 7-run lead and chasing one of the premier starters in baseball this year, Garrett Crochet, after 2.1 innings. Add in the fact that the White Sox had fired their manager a day earlier and were just 28-89 entering Friday night’s contest at Guaranteed Rate Field and the Cubs had to feel good about picking up their third-straight win.

[WATCH: Cubs race out to early lead against White Sox]

But the White Sox scratched and clawed their way back. They scored 4 runs in the 4th inning off Taillon and added another in the 5th. It was just the 3rd time this season he has allowed 5 or more runs in an outing — and the 2nd time it happened against the South Siders.

“I feel like we probably all knew they were going to punch back, and they weren’t dead over there, and they weren’t done,” Taillon said. “Regardless of what type of year they’re having, they’re still big leaguers and this is a rivalry game, and it’s exciting, and there’s tons of fans in the stands.

“And I feel like since I’ve been here, every game we’ve played them, it’s just wacky, and it’s kind of fun.”

He’s right about that, too.

For the third straight time this season, the Cubs beat the White Sox by the same scoreline — and all three games have been wild, frenzied matchups.

It wasn’t like the Cubs coasted after the fast start, though. They had a baserunner in 7 of the 9 innings and collected 16 hits in the contest. But they had some bad breaks and good plays by the White Sox’ defense stymied chances, too.

In the 2nd inning, Pete Crow-Armstrong had a leadoff triple but failed to score as Crochet struck out the next 3 hitters.

In the 5th, Nico Hoerner was caught stealing at 2nd for the first out. Later in the frame, Andrew Benintendi nabbed the speedy Crow-Armstrong at the plate for the final out on a single from Miguel Amaya.

[HIGHLIGHTS: Cubs outlast White Sox in thrilling Crosstown Classic matchup]

In the 8th, Michael Busch hit into a double-play with runners on 1st and 2nd — it was a 106-mph liner right to the shortstop who stepped on second to pick up a pair of outs.

“I don’t think we ever felt like we were clinging onto the lead,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I think we wanted to add on but it’s just how it works sometimes.”

Then, in the 9th, the White Sox loaded the bases, but Héctor Neris showed his calm, inducing a flyball from Andrew Vaughn to end the game.

And at the end of the day, the Cubs won’t ask how — they’ll just be happy to pick up another win at a point in the season where they’re trying to collect as many as they can.

“You’re gonna have games like that and you got to just outlast it and we kept playing well and made some pitches at the end to get a win,” manager Craig Counsell said.