Photo courtesy of San Francisco Giants. Patrick Bailey points to the mound on 6/9/23.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN FRANCISCO- The Giants opened a weekend series against the Cubs with a loss after a rough seventh inning by a final of 3-2.

Getting the start for San Francisco was Anthony DeSclafani while for Chicago Marcus Stroman got the nod.

The first inning saw some early trouble for DeSclafani who walked the first batter but thanks to great defense from Thairo Estrada and Patrick Bailey the Giants escaped unscathed.

In the bottom of the first Stroman also walked the first batter he faced but Chicago’s defense also held up turning a double play and ending the inning quickly.

The second inning went by quietly as only one hit was recorded with Mike Yastrzemski getting the lone single.

Then in the bottom of the third the Giants offense woke up Lamonte Wade Jr. walked with two outs already on the board. Joc Pederson then came up and singled putting runners on the corners for the Giants. Estrada did not pass up on the opportunity as he doubled on a line drive to left field bringing home Wade and making it 1-0.

After the burst of offense both Stroman and DeSclafani went on cruise control resulting in a pitchers duel until the seventh inning.

The fourth inning through the sixth saw some dazzling defense on both sides with Stroman making his defense work quite a bit. As in total Chicago’s defense recorded 14 groundouts with Stroman on the mound though surprisingly no fly outs.

The seventh inning opened with DeSclafani still on the mound but after a hit and a walk Gabe Kapler went to the bullpen and brought out Ryan Walker in relief. DeSclafani finished the night with a solid stat line of six innings pitched, two earned runs, two K’s, and four walks.

Walker did not help the situation much in the seventh inning as the first batter he faced flew out and then he hit the next batter with a pitch. With the bases loaded and only one out Nico Hoerner came in to pinch-hit for Patrick Wisdom. The substitution paid off as Hoerner singled on a ground ball to center field that knocked home two runs making it 2-1.

Already having given up two runs Walker was struggling with his control and then threw a wild pitch that advanced both runners on first and second. Tucker Barnhart proceeded to single on a line drive to center field making it 3-1.

After getting his first out Walker was taken out and replaced by Tristan Beck who got the final out of the top of the seventh.

Hoerner would remain in the game staying at second base for the Cubs.

Despite the rough beginning to the seventh the Giants did get a response going in the bottom of the inning with Brandon Crawford getting a double. Wade advanced Crawford to third on a ground out and Pederson brought him home on a single. Originally the single was called a ground out but after Kapler challenged the play the call was reversed meaning it was now a one run game.

After the seventh though the Giant’s offense went cold as both Mark Leiter Jr. and Adbert Alzolay helped to close it out ending in a final score of 3-2.

Of note Pederson went 4-4 and for Chicago Seiya Suzuki went 3-3 with a run and walk.

The Giants play the second of this three game home series against the Cubs at 4:35 p.m.