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The Chicago Cubs Patrick Wisdom is enthusiastic after belting a two run second inning home run against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Jun 6, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-With a chance of getting a sweep and gaining ground on the competition, neither happened for the San Francisco Giants.

Javier Baez reached on a fielders choice when Mauricio Dubons throw to home plate could not be handled by Buster Posey for an error that allowed Kyle Hendricks to score from third base, as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Giants 4-3 before a crowd of 14,021 at Oracle Park.

Hendricks helped out his own cause, as he doubled to lead off the inning against Johnny Cueto, went to third on an Anthony Rizzo single and after Kris Bryant struck out for the first out of the inning, then Ian Happ walked to load the bases and Baezs fielders choice allowed the eventual winning run. That would be the end of the line for Cueto, as he was replaced Conor Menez, who got of the jam, as he struck out Jason Heyward and Patrick Wisdom to end the inning.

Wisdom, who played his college ball across the Bay in Moraga at St. Marys College hit two more home runs today and three over the past two days.

Hendricks lasted 6.1 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out five and raised his record up to 7-4 on the season.

Cueto went 4.1 innings, giving up four runs (three runs) on six hits, walking two and striking out four and saw his record fall to 4-2 on the season.

Things were looking good for the Giants after the first pitch of the game in the bottom of the first inning, as LaMonte Wade, Jr., took the first pitch he saw from Hendricks and planted it into the left field bleachers for his third home run of the season.

Buster Posey then singled, and after Hendricks regrouped to get Alex Dickerson and Wilmer Flores, Steven Duggar walked and then Donovan Solano singled in Posey from second base, just beating the throw by Heyward.

Wisdom then hit his first home run of the game over the center field wall to get the Cubs on the board in the top of the second inning, much to the delight of the large contingent of Cubs fans that invaded Oracle Park.

Posey then picked up his second hit in as many at-bats in the bottom of the inning to drive in Dubon, who doubled to lead off the inning and went to third when Cueto grounded out to Eric Sogard at second base, who threw to Hendricks covering, as the ball got passed Rizzo at first base.

Dickerson then hit a single that went into centerfield, and like in the first inning, when Posey scored from second base, third base coach Ron Wotus sent Posey, who was thrown out at the plate by Happ and P.J. Higgins applied the tag to end the inning.

Happ led off the top of the third inning with a walk, and after Cueto was able to get Baez and Jason Heyward; however, Wisdom launched his second home run of the game over the center field wall.

Things got interesting in the bottom of the ninth inning, as Dubon hit a high fly ball to left field that looked like it was going to tie the game; however, Bryant leaped to snare what would have been the game-tying home run off of Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel. After that, Kimbrel struck out both pinch hitter Jason Vosler and Wade, Jr., to pick up his 14th save of the season.

NOTES: Despite the loss, the Giants maintained their two-game lead in the National League West over the San Diego Padres and three game over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It was discovered that Evan Longoria will miss four to six weeks with a right shoulder sprain that occurred when he collided with Brandon Crawford on Saturday in the top of the ninth inning. Longoria was placed on the 10-day disabled list, and Estrada was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento, and made his Giants debut when he struck out against Kimbrel.

UP NEXT: After a day off on Monday, the Giants will begin a two-city, six-game road trip that begins in Arlington, Texas, where the Giants will send Alex Wood to the mound and the Rangers will send Jordan Lyles to the mound in the series opener and in the finale, Anthony DeSclafani will face Kyle Gordon.

Following the two-game series in Arlington, the Giants will travel to Washington, D.C., to face the Nationals beginning on Thursday night for a four-game set.

San Francisco Giants starter Kevin Gausman throws to the Chicago Cubs line up in the first inning of action at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sat Jun 5, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-If Kevin Gausman is not scheduled to pitch on Sunday July 11 against the Washington Nationals, you can best believe that he will be on a plane heading to Coors Field to represent the San Francisco Giants in the All-Star Game.

Gausman showed once again why he is one of the surprising stories of the first half, as he went seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned), giving up two hits, not walking a batter and striking out 10 and the Giants came back to defeat the Chicago Cubs 4-3 before a crowd of 12,792 at Oracle Park.

With the victory, Gausman raised his record to 7-0 on the season and lowered his earned run average down to 1.27.

The Giants are have now won 14 out of their last 19 games, including nine out of 11 and raise their record to 37-21, the best record in the majors.

With the victory, the Giants are now a game and a half ahead of the San Diego Padres, who are in second place and coupled with the Atlanta Braves win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Truist Park, the Giants are now three games ahead of the defending World Champions, who are in third place in the National League West.

Gausmans only mistake of the game came in the top of the second inning, as he gave up a two-run home run to Patrick Wisdom that came three batters after Anthony Rizzo reached on a fielding error by Brandon Crawford at shortstop.

The only other hit that Gausman gave up after that was to counterpart Kohl Stewart, who singled off of Gausman to lead off the top of the third inning and Stewart would be the baserunner that Gausman allowed to reach base.

Gausman then retired the next 15 batters in a row, that included eight of his 10 strikeouts on the afternoon against the Cubs.

Also of those 15 final outs, only three were to the outfield.

This was the third time this season that Gausman reached the double figure plateau, as he first reached it against the Miami Marlins on April 24 at Oracle Park, when he struck 11 and then on May 14, he struck out a season-high 12 against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

After the Giants fell behind 2-0 in the top of the second inning, Alex Dickerson cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third inning. Dickerson lined an opposite field home run into the first row of the left field bleachers for his sixth home run of the season.

Chadwick Tromp tied up the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he hit an opposite field single to score Steven Duggar, who walked to lead off the inning with a walk. Following the Tromp single that tied up the game, Gausman laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt that nearly past Wisdom, who grabbed it and threw to Javier Baez for the second out of the inning.

Lamonte Wade, Jr., gave the Giants the lead, as he an opposite field single to score Jason Vosler, who singled with one out in the inning and that was the end of the line for Stewart, who went three and two-thirds, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out five.

Crawford redeemed himself for that fielding error in the top of the second inning, as he doubled off the wall in right field to score Evan Longoria from first base. Longoria led off the inning with a walk off of Cubs reliever Dan Winkler.

Things got a little interesting in the top of the ninth inning, as the streak of retiring 18 in a row between Gausman and Jake McGee, who pitched the eighth inning and retired the side in order that included two strikeouts, as Rafael Ortega reached on a fielding error by Mauricio Dubon at second base.

Ortega was then retired on a force play at second base that was eventually reviewed by the umpires to see if Dubon held on to the throw from Crawford on the ball hit by Kris Bryant. The call was confirmed and Ortega was out for the first out of the inning.

Baez, who struck out in his three at-bats against Gausman finally broke through against Rogers, as he singled to centerfield to send Bryant to third base.

Following the Baez single, Rizzo reached on a fielding error by Longoria, when he collided with Crawford and Bryant scored easily from third base.

The collision between Crawford and Longoria was so powerful that Longoria fell to the ground and was down there for a few minutes before getting to his feet on his own power, but left the game and was replaced by Dubon, who moved to third base from second base and Donovan Solano came into the game at second base.

On a 3-2 pitch to Wilson Contreras, Rogers got him to swing at the pitch and missed for the second out of the inning.

With a chance to tie up the game or possibly take the lead, the Cubs pulled off a double steal that never saw a throw, as Baez and Rizzo stole second and third respectively.

Rogers was able to get Jason Heyward to ground out to Solano at second base for the final out of the game, and the Giants fans got to see the Giants victory flag raised on the right field foul pole, and hear Tony Bennett sing, I Left My Heart in San Francisco.

NOTES: Prior to the game, the Giants recalled Camilo Doval from Sacramento, and to make room for him on the roster, Scott Kazmir was designated for assignment.

Crawford moved within one game of tying Travis Jackson for the most games played at shortstop in team history. Jackson played in 1,325 games at shortstop while he was a member of the team from 1922-1936.

UP NEXT: Johnny Cueto (4-1, 3.45) heads to the mound for the Giants on Sunday afternoon, as they look for their four-game sweep of the Cubs since June 1-4, 2012, while the Kyle Hendricks (6-4, 4.62) will head to the hill for the Cubs.

The San Francisco Giants LaMonte Wade (31) is congratulated by third base coach Ron Wotus after hitting a fourth inning solo home run against pitcher Jake Arrieta and the Cubs at Oracle Park in San Francisco Fri Jun 4, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

After falling behind to the Chicago Cubs, the San Francisco Giants came back to take a lead that they would never relinquish.

Steven Duggar hit a two-run home run and then Alex Dickerson would add a three-run home run in a six-run second inning, as the Giants made it two in a row with a 8-5 victory over the Cubs at Oracle Park.

Duggar gave the Giants the lead for good in that six-run inning, as he hit tied his career high with his fourth home run of the season for the Giants, as he gave them a 3-2 lead. Jake Arrieta then allowed a single to Donovan Solano and then walked, and Arrieta got the next two batters, Dickerson launched a full count Arrieta offering onto the arcade to give the Giants a big six-run inning.

“We’re competitive. We believe that we can really push and win the (NL) West,” Dickerson said. “That’s been our goal from the start and we never thought it was ridiculous to say that. We plan on being there all year.”

The Cubs took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, as Kris Bryant hit a two-run home run in the top of the first inning, as he hit his 13th home run of the season.

“When you go down 2-0 against a team like the Cubs you know it’s going to be a bit of a fight, you know you’re going to have to score some runs,” said Gabe Kapler. “We’ve been stinging together good at-bats up and down the lineup for some time now.”

Scott Kazmir, who made his return to the starting rotation after being out due to a personal matter allowed the two-run home run to Bryant.

Kazmir was making his third start of the season after being out of major league baseball for the past few years, and went two innings, allowing two runs on three hits, not allowing a walk and striking out three.

After the Giants would take that 6-2 lead, former Los Angeles Dodgers infielder/outfielder Joc Pederson, who grew up in Palo Alto continues to be an enemy of the Giants and their fans, as he hit a two-run home run to cut the Giants lead down to 6-4 in the top of the fourth inning.

That would be the score for a half-inning, as Jason Vosler, who was drafted by the Cubs came back to haunt his former organization, as he hit his second home run of his short career and hit first pinch-hit home run to give the Giants a 7-4 lead. Arrieta then gave his fourth home run of the game, as LaMonte Wade, Jr., made it back-to-back home runs for the Giants, who have now won two in a row and eight out of their last 10.

This was the fourth time this season that the Giants have hit four home runs, as they continue to lead the National League West by one game over the San Diego Padres and two over the defending World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Not only due to the Giants continue to be the surprise of the major leagues, as they have the best record in the major leagues at the present time.

On the other side of things, the Cubs continue to lead the National League Central and lost back-to-back games for the first time since May 9-12 when they lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Indians.

Conor Menez, the third of five Giants relievers who would go to the mound picked up his first win of the season, as he went two perfect innings to get the win. Tyler Rogers came out of the bullpen as the closer, as he pitched the ninth inning to secure his seventh save of the season.

Arrieta fell to 5-6 on the season, as he gave up six runs and six hits in two innings, as he walked two and struck out one and gave up two home runs.

NOTES: To make room for Kazmir on the roster, Nick Tropeano, who optioned to Sacramento after Thursday nights win was designated for assignment to clear room for Kazmir.

Brandon Crawford played his 1,324th career game at shortstop, coming within two of passing Travis Jackson for the most games ever by a shortstop in Giants history.

UP NEXT: Kevin Gausman looks for his seventh win of the season, as he takes the mound for the Giants on Saturday afternoon, while Kole Stewart makes the start for the Cubs.