San Francisco Giants closer for a day Brandon Crawford(35) closed the door on the visiting Chicago Cubs in the top of the ninth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Jun 11, 2023 (@ SFGiants photo)
Chicago (18-37). 011 001 000. – 3. 7. 0
San Francisco (33-32). 202 132 30x. – 13 15 4
Time: 3:06.
Attendance: 36,842
Sunday, June 11, 2023
By Lewis Rubman
SAN FRANCISCO–Still smarting from their two consecutive losses to the visiting Chicago Cubs, the Giants, hoping to avoid a sweep of this three game series, once again sent John Brebbia (2-2, 4.72), who threw two perfect innings in yesterday’s contest, to the mound as their opener.
Today, he hurled one scoreless, but not untroubled, inning. He was followed by Tristan Beck in the second, Ryan Walker in the fourth, Luke Jackson in the seventh, Taylor Rogers in the eighth, and Brandon Crawford, of all people!, in the ninth. The Giants won the game handily, 13-3, but it was not a pretty sight.
Chicago entrusted mound duties to right hander Hayden Wesneski, technically a rookie although he went 3-2, 2.18 for them in 2022. He came to work today with a record of 2-2, 4.72 and lasted just 3+ innings, during which he surrendered five runs, all earned but one posthumous, on four hits, two of them yard, and a walk. He struck out four Giants. He threw 59 pitches, 35 for strikes, and was charged with the loss, leaving him 2-2, 5.33 for the year.
The visitors made it clear that Brebbia wasn’t going to keep them off the base paths for two frames today. Mike Tauchman sent his second pitch against the wall in the right, just to the right of the State Farm advertisement, for a two base hit. But The Curse of the Leadoff Double came to Brebbia’s rescued and he fanned Nick Hoener before walking Christopher Morel and getting Ian Happ and Darby Swanson to fly out.
Joc Pederson saw to it that the home team wasn’t going to be shut out today. After Thairo Estrada opened the Giants’ half of the first by getting hit by Wesneski’s second pitch, Pederson sent a 92.5 mph four seamer into the left center field bleachers. The ball travelled 382 feet and was Pederson’s sixth round tripper and accounted for his 21st and 22nd RBI of the season.
Chicago got one run back in the second on s0me horrendous fielding by Casey Schmitt at short. With one out and Yan Gomes, who had lucked out on a Texas League single to short left center, and Patrick Wisdom, who had walked, on base, Nick Madrigal hit a sharp grounder to Schmitt, perfect for a double play.
He bobbled the ball, enabling Madrigal to reach first and then threw wildly to the bag, allowing both runners and Madrigal to move up another 90 feet, which made the score 2-1.
The Cubs tied it one inning later on an infield single by Morel and another play began looking like it might have ended the inning, Gomes’s grounder to second that originally had been called a force out, but Chicago’s appeal was successful, and, not only did Morel score, but the Gomes was safely on first, having beaten Schmitt’s throw there.
This certainly was a different game from yesterday’s. Schmitt led off the Giant’ third with a single to left center and hustled to second on left fielder Hopp’s error before trotting home on Pederson’s homer, the 101st splash hit into McCovey Cove, putting San Francisco on top 4-2.
They made it 5-2in the fourth on an RBI Texas League single buy Blake Sabol off Michael Fulmer, who had relieved Wesneski, who had left the game with two on and no one out.
Brandon Hughes, the only lefty in the Chicago bullpen, took over for the Cubs in the fifth and gave up a leadoff single to Pederson and a down the line double to Davis that sent Pederson to third, and a single to center by Conforto that plated plated both runners. Michael Rucker then replaced Hughes on the mound and gave up a single to Blake Sabol that brought in Conforto with San Francisco’s eighth tally.
In a game conspicuous for slovenly fielding the top of the sixth was notable for Walker’s dropping Flores’s throw to first on Matt Mervis’s grounder and Haniger’s dropping Mike Tauchman’s fly ball to left, both of which contributed to Chicago’s narrowing the gap to 8-3.
Estrada’s lead off homer against Jeremiah Estrada, who opened the bottom of the sixth for the Wrigley Field squad, widened that gap to 9-3, and Flores’s sac fly brought in Pederson, who had walked, with the home team’s tenth tally.
Javier Assad relieved Estrada for the Giants’ seventh. He gave up the Giants’ Estrada’s second round tripper of the rout, a three run blast into the left field bleachers that made it 13-3.
Fan favorite Brandon Crawford wrapped it up. with a scoreless top of the ninth, to the delight of his cheering fans.
The Giants move on to St. Louis, where they will face Matthew Liberatore (1-2,6.00) at 4:45, Pacific Time, tomorrow, Monday the 12th. Logan Webb (4-6, 3.09) will pitch for San Francisco.
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