Tag: Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs Ian Happ connects for a two run home run in top of the tenth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Thu Jun 27, 2024 (AP News photo)

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

Chicago Cubs 5 (38-44)

San Francisco Giants 3 (39-43)

Win: Hector Neris (7-2)

Loss: Luke Jackson (4-2)

Save: Porter Hodge (1)

Time: 2:51

Attendance: 31,535

By Stephen Ruderman

SAN FRANCISCO–The San Francisco Giants couldn’t sweep the Chicago Cubs on Thursday as the Cubs Ian Happ hit a top of the tenth inning two run home run to beat San Francisco at Oracle Park 5-3 breaking a 3-3 deadlock. With the win the Cubs end a four game losing streak and avoid getting swept in four games.

The Giants’ offense has stayed alive in this series, and they looked to keep that going, as the Giants looked to complete their sweep of the Cubs on this beautiful sunny and hazy day at Oracle Park. Jordan Hicks, who struggled in the heat of his old ballpark in St. Louis, would make the start and hoped to bounce back in a more temperate climate in San Francisco.

Hicks started off the inning with a 1-2-3 top of the first inning, and Cubs’ starter Shota Imanaga did the same in the bottom of the first.

Hicks threw a scoreless inning in the top of the second, but it didn’t come without its drama. Ian Happ walked with one out; and then with two outs, Dansby Swanson blooped a base-hit to left-center field, and Happ was nailed at the plate trying to score all the way from first base. Imanaga then threw a scoreless inning in the bottom of the second.

Pete Crow-Armstrong was nicked by a pitch to start the top of the third, and two batters later, Nico Hoerner hooked a low-hanging home run down the left field line to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead. Michael Busch struck out swinging, and then Cody Bellinger reached on an infield hit to third.

Seiya Suzuki then hit a line drive to right, but right-fielder Luis Matos came in on the ball when he should have gone back, which allowed the ball to go over his glove and hit off the bottom of the wall. Bellinger scored, and Suzuki went into third with a triple.

Hicks escaped the top of the third without any further damage, but the Cubs had themselves a 3-0 lead. The Giants threatened in the bottom of the third, as Nick Ahmed walked to start the inning, and Curt Casali singled Ahmed over to second. However, the Giants’ offense reverted back to their old ways and were unable to come through.

Both pitchers threw 1-2-3 innings in the fourth, and after Hicks ended his afternoon with a scoreless top of the fifth. Hicks was fairly solid, giving up three hits on five hits with seven strikeouts.

Imanaga pitched another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fifth, and Spencer Bivens came in to pitch a 1-2-3 inning for San Francisco in the top of the sixth.

Austin Slater singled to start the bottom of the sixth, but Heliot Ramos popped out, and Wilmer Flores flew out. Matt Chapman singled the other way to right to move Slater over to second, and that brought up Jorge Soler.

Soler continued his renewed success with runners in scoring position by putting the Giants on the board with a ground rule double to left-center. Imanaga then threw a wild pitch to Luis Matos, and Chapman scored to make it 3-2.

Matos hit a squibber to second that he was able to beat out, and Soler came in to score to tie it. Just as the Giants came back from down 4-0 to tie Monday night’s game, they came back from 3-0 with a three-run bottom of the sixth inning to tie Thursday’s game.

Erik Miller came in and retired the first two men he faced in the top of the seventh. Hoerner then lined a base-hit up the middle into center field and stole second, and Michael Busch walked. That brought up Cody Bellinger, who struck out swinging to end the inning.

Luke Little replaced Imanaga and threw a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the seventh. Suzuki led off the top of the eighth with a double off of Ryan Walker, but Walker retired the next three guys he faced to get out of it without any damage.

Tyson Miller pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth for Chicago, and Sean Hjelle pitched out of trouble for the Giants in the top of the ninth. Cubs’ closer Hector Neris then pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to send this thing to the 10th.

Luke Jackson came in for the 10th, and with the game in extra innings, that of course meant the inning would start with a runner at second. Suzuki grounded out to end the inning, and then Ian Happ hit a home run to the Cubs’ bullpen out in right-center to put Chicago back ahead 5-3.

Porter Hodge was the new pitcher for the Cubs in the bottom of the tenth, and Patrick Bailey was the runner at second for the Giants. Brett Wisely singled on a Texas leaguer to left to start the bottom of the 10th, but Hodge retired the next three batters down in order to end it.

The Giants were unable to get the sweep, which would have given them a lot of momentum going into a very tough nine-game stretch that will start Friday night.

Hector Neris got the win; Luke Jackson got the loss; and Porter Hodge picked up his first-career save.

The Giants fall to 39-43, and that stretch will begin with a three-game series against their hated rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, that will start Friday night. Logan Webb (6-6, 3.16 ERA) will be on the mound, and he will be opposed by Dodgers’ right-hander Landon Knack (1-1, 2.10 ERA).

Giants News and Notes:

LaMonte Wade Jr. will be activated off the Injured List tomorrow and is expected to be in the lineup against the Dodgers. Wade strained his left hamstring on May 27 against the Phillies.

Most importantly, the Giants will be getting a big bat back in the lineup with Wade, who was hitting .333 before going down.

San Francisco Giants Luis Matos reaches home plate after hitting a bottom of the fifth inning home run against the Chicago Cubs at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Thu Jun 26, 2024 (AP News photo)

On San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca:

#1 Michael, the Giants are getting some clutch hits and Wednesday was no different when Michael Conforto and David Villar both who hit back to back home runs in the second inning tying the game and set the tone of the Giants picking up their third straight win over the Chicago Cubs Monday through Wednesday.

#2 Luis Matos got the go ahead home run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Matos hit his second home run of the season. Matos is hitting .240 how impressive and impactful has Matos hitting been in the Giants line up?

#3 With the loss the Cubs have now lost four straight they surfaced out of last place momentarily surpassing the Cincinnati Reds only to drop back into last place in the NL Central once again. The Cubs had been competitive and earlier a post season contender what changed and brought the lovable losers back to this present day?

#4 Talk about the debut of rookie pitcher Hayden Birdsong who was just called up from Triple A Sacramento and started for the parent club on Wednesday pitching 4.2 innings, giving three runs, six hits, and five strikeouts. Birdsong said he was stoked to pitch in a winning ball game in his big league debut.

#5 Michael talk about Thursday’s starters for the Cubs it’ll be LHP Shota Imanaga (7-2, ERA 2.96) and for the Giants RHP Jordan Hicks (4-4, ERA 3.24). Imanaga is having a good season and the Cubs despite their struggles have relied on Imanaga and have played well behind him. Hicks has pitched well enough to win games that he has lost and has a commanding ERA of 3.24.

Join Michael for the Giants podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Luis Matos (right) is congratulated by San Francisco Giants third base coach Matt Williams (9) after hitting a bottom of the fifth home run against the Chicago Cubs that put the Giants on top at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wed Jun 26, 2024 (AP News photo)

Chicago (37-44). 010 110 000 3. 9. 0

San Francisco (39-42). 030 010 00x. 4. 6. 1

Time: 2:25

Attendance: 30,893

Wednesday, June 26, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–There was an air of indeterminacy to this Wednesday night’s Giants 4-3 win over the visiting Chicago Cubs that went beyond (perhaps it’s better to say they preceded) the usual questions about a game’s outcome.

The home team’s starting pitcher was 22 year old righty Hayden Birdsong, promoted from Sacramento on game day to make his major league debut. He had been a reliever in college and the low minors, but the Giants have been trying to stretch him out until he’s strong enough to join the starting rotation.

Compared with Birdsong, the Cubs’ opener, another Hayden, a 26 year old surnamed Wesneski, with 163-1/3 big league innings, including 41 this season under his belt, was a wizzend veteran. He brought a record of 2-4, 3.29 and a WHIP of 1.20 for the year with him to the mound. The lineup card distributed before the game lists him in the bullpen section. This was his fourth start of the season, but I haven’t been able to determine how many, if any, of the other three were as an opener.

Would this, then, be the Giants’ third consecutive bullpen game? And would the Cubs adopt the same multi-arm strategy?

Although Birdsong retired the side in order in the first, his control weakened in the second frame, and a pair of walks, a wild pitch, and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s single to right put the Cubs up, 1-0. (What musical match ups tonight afforded us! Two Haydens and a raven facing a Birdsong)!

The Giants got that run back and two more in their half of the frame. Patrick Bailey led off with a walk, and, after Jorge Soler and Thairo Estrada fanned, Michael Conforto put San Francisco ahead his his ninth home run of the year, a 411 foot blast over the left auxiliary scoreboard in right field, and David Villar followed with his first, a 433 foot no doubter that landed in in the patio in front of the center field batter’s eye.

The Chicagoans closed in on their hosts in the top of the fourth. Christopher Morel led off with a single to left and would have gotten a double if a replay hadn’t shown that Conforto’s throw had cut him down at second. Dansby Swanson sent Héctor Ramos to the warning track to haul down his fly to center. Birdsong walked Crow-Armstrong on a full count, and he scored all the way from first on Miguel Anaya’s single to left. That made it a 3-2 game, with SF still in front.

Both teams had pitchers warming up in the bullpen in the top of the fifth, even before Seiya Suzuki knotted the score with his dinger into the Cubs’ warm up space with the bases empty and two out. Luke Jackson stopped his warm ups, walked to the mound, and threw in earnest to Ian Happ, whose grounder to first ended the inning.

The Giants had gotten all they could reasonably expect from Birdsong. He gave them 4-2/3 innings and left with the score tied. That eased the strain on their overtaxed bullpen. It was more than what’s required from an opener but less than what you want from a starter. He threw 97 pitches, 55 for strikes. The three runs scored against him were earned and came on six hits, three walks, and a wild pitch, He now has a major league record of 0-0, 5.79.

It also was better than the more experienced Hayden Wisneski could do. He didn’t come out for the bottom of the fifth, having thrown 72 pitches, 30 of which were balls, and having allowed only two hits, but both of them were home runs.

Wisneski walked one batter and struck out three. The no decision left him at 2-4, 3.60. Drew Smyle, the losing pitcher in Wednesday night’s game and Monday night’s walk off Giant win, replaced Wisneski and coughed up the lead on a two out solo home run by Matos, 375 feet from home into the left field bleachers, his third round tripper in the part of the season he’s spent in the show.

Smyle was gone after toiling an inning and a third, leaving runners on first and second with two out in the sixth. Porter Hodge got the second and third outs, but the orange and black were back on top, 4-3. Hodge hurled a scoreless seventh and yielded to Keagan Thompson for the eighth.

Erik Miller jumped on the monticular merry-go-round to hurl a 1-2-3 seventh for the home towners, followed by Tyler, the right handed submarining Rogers brother, who, with a little help from a pitcher’s best friend, preserved the Giants’ 4-3 avantage.

An advantage that Camilo Doval almost threw away en route to his 14th save. Two Giant pitchers already had picked a runner off base. Doval tried to do it on Swanson, who had singled to lead off the top of the ninth.

He threw the ball past Villar, putting the potential tying run in scoring position. But Doval bore down and retired the next three Cubs to preserve the 4-3 win and give the Giants a chance to sweep the series, which will wind up Thursday, afternoon. The first pitch is slated for 12:45 and to be thrown by Jordan Hicks (4-4, 3.24). He’ll be opposed by Shota Imanaga (7-2, 2.96).

San Francisco Giants Matt Chapman (26) takes some warm up swings in the on deck circle the bottom of the fourth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tue Jun 25, 2024 (AP News photo)

Chicago (37-43). 001 000 000. 1 4. 0

San Francisco (37-42). 020 000 030. 5 8 0

Time: 2:26

Attendance: 30,368

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–For the second evening in a row, the Giants chose the bullpen route and won. On Monday night an eighth inning outburst gave them a come from behind victory. This Tuesday night an eighth inning three run outburst led the Giants to a 5-1 triumph.

San Francisco opened with Randy Rodríguez (2-1/3 innings, a hit and a run), followed by Sean Hjelle (two innings, two hits, two strikeouts); Taylor Rogers (one inning, one hit, one walk); Ryan Walker (1-1/3 innings, one walk, two strikeouts); Tyler Rogers (who earned the win with one perfect inning); and Camilo Doval (ditto, with a strikeout).

Chicago’s starting pitcher, Kyle Hendrcks had been struggling, as the euphemism has it, this season. His 1-4, 7.66 record at game time was in stark contrast to the 93-69, 3.48 mark he had compiled between 2013 and 2023, but he had performed well in his most recent appearance, a 5-1/3 frame start at Wrigley a week ago in which he held the orange and black to one run, earned, on two hits and a walk.

Tuesday evening, although he was touched for a couple of tallies in the second episode, he was excellent after that until the end of his tenure, when Cotten Brewer started the bottom of the eighth in his stead. The 34 year old righty had gone seven innings and thrown an even 100 pitches, of which only 28 were balls. He allowed two runs, both earned, on five hits and a walk, striking out four. He took the loss and now is 1-4, 6.87 for the year.

As often happens when the Giants go opening pitcher, they executed a pair of matching pregame personnel moves. Tuesday, the optioned Raymond Burgos, who on Monday night had pitched better than his numbers indicated, to Sacramento and recalled Mason Black from the River Cats.

David Villar, the Harvard educated infielder who’s been up and down the interstate between West Sacramento and SOMA, had been promoted last Saturday and was in the lineup this Tuesday evening, batting eighth and playing first. His sacrifice fly to left produced the Giants’ second run in the home second. The first had come on a leadoff single by Jorge Soler, a walk to Matt Chapman, and Michael Conforto’s RBI single to right.

After the Cubs had cut the Giants’ lead in half in the top of the third with a two out walk to Nico Hoerner, who stole second and romped home on Michael Busch’s single to right, Sean Hjelle came in to. relieve Rodríguez. Hjelle allowed a harmless single to Cory Bellinger before ending the inning with a strikeout of Seya Suzuki. Taylor Rogers replaced Hjelle with one on and two out in the fifth and issued a walk and notched a K to end the frame.

San Francisco broke the game open once Colten Brewer replaced Hendricks. Luis Matos led off with a single to left. Brett Wisely smacked a double off the brick wall in right, moving Matos to third. Ramos walked to load the bases, After Patrick Bailey’s grounder to short forced Matos out at the plate. the basepaths still were FOG, full of Giants. Soler’s sac fly to center brought in Wisely, and Chapman’s single to left scored SF’s third run of the inning, their fifth and final tally of the game.

Camilo Doval made mincemeat of the Cubs, setting them down in order on 15 pitches in their futile top of the ninth.

Neither team has announced its starting pitcher for the game scheduled for 6:45pm PT Thursday, evening.

San Francisco Giants’ Heliot Ramos #17 hits a single off Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Justin Steele #35 in the sixth inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, June 24, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Chicago (37-42). 000 130 000. 4 10. 0

San Francisco (37-42). 000 011 003. 5 9. 0

Time: 2:42

Attendance: 30,701

Monday, June 24, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–With their amazing 5-4 come from behind walk off (literally a walk off) in this Monday’s series opener against the visiting Chicago Cubs, the San Francisco Giants inched back towards their glass ceiling of .500. The dozen runners the Cubs left stranded gives an idea of what sort of a Perils of Pauline experience Monday night’s game was.

Before the game began, the Giants staged a well earned celebration of the life and achievements of Willie Mays. When the game began, everyone in a Giants uniform wore the number 24, as a tribute to the great ballplayer and person that was Mays. Whatever the motivation of “tributes” like this may be, their main consequence is the difficulty they cause in identifying the players. I consider them another baseball superstition, like avoiding stepping on the foul line when going on and off the field, only wrapped in sanctimony

This evening’s encounter, as probably will be the case for the next three contests, was a bullpen game for San Francisco. Erik Miller was the opener. In his one inning on the mound, Miller walked a batter, Seiya Suzuki, and then picked him off while attempting to steal. That third out ended Miller’s near cameo appearance. His successor, Spencer Bivens, went two frames and allowed two bases on balls, both in his first inning of scoreless work.

Brandon Burgos, promoted today from Sacramento, made his major league debut to open the fourth. Cody Bellinnger welcomed him with a weak grounder down the third base line that just made it into left field for a single. Christopher Morel followed with a solid single to left.

A five pitch walk to Ian Happ loaded the bases with none out. After Danby Swason’s fly out to right provided a brief respite, Michael Busch sent a ground ball behind second base that slick fielding Nck Ahmed had trouble controlling. Busch beat his throw to first for an RBI single. Burgos showed major league poise by getting Pete Crow-Armstrong to ground out to Estrada, closing the inning and preventing further damage. But damage was done, and Chicago was ahead, 1-0.

Luke Jackson was the fourth Giant pitcher, replacing Burgos in the top of the fifth. A leadoff walk to Nico Hoerner and back to back singles to right by Suzuki and Bellinger, and it was 2-0. A wild pitch and a walk to Morel, and the Cubbies had clogged the base paths for the second straight inning.

Ian Happ’s grounder to Estrada forced Morel out a second, but Happ beat Ahmed’s throw to first, Suzuki scored, and there were runners on the corner with only one out. That was it for Jackon. Spencer Howard replaced him with two runners in scoring position and his team trailing 3-0.

Ten pitches later, the score still was 3-0, and the inning was over. Howard struck out Busch and Tomás Nido to keep a bad situation from becoming a total loss. He continued on the mound for the rest of the game allowing a total four hits and a walk but nary a run on the way to his first win of the year against one defeat and lowering his ERA to 3.80.

The Cubs’ starter, Justin Steele, entered the professional ranks in 2014 but didn’t make it to the show until 2021. But when he did, he was quite a success. Last year he was named the NL all-star team and pitched a shutout frame.

In the regular season, he hurled a pair of 10 strikeout games, went seven consecutive undefeated starts. He came to work this Monday bearing an unimpressive 0-3 won-lost mark but sporting a respectable ERA of 3.16. He wasn’t involved in the decision, but he pitched a worthy game, throwing 106 pitches, a noteworthy 81 for strikes and allowing two runs, both earned, on nine hits, two of which were solo home runs. He issued only one free pass and struck out nine Giants in his 7-1/3 innings of work.

Steele cruised through four innings, allowing only a first inning single to Héctor Ramos until Matt Chapman smacked an 82 mph slider 410 feet into the left field bleachers to narrow the gap to 3-1. A gap that shrank to 3-2 on Ahmed’s leadoff homer to left in the home sixth after Jackson had pitched himself into and out of a two on, none down jam in the top of the frame. The blast was Ahmed’s first four bagger in his injury shortened season.

Steele’s labor ceased in the home half of the eighth. With one out and Ahmed, who had drawn a leadoff walk on first, Ramos drove a long drive to the crease where the 365 foot marker meets the State Farm advertisement for a double that put the potential tying and winning runs on base. Tyson Miller relieved him and fanned Flores, bringing up Jorge Soler, who popped out to shallow right

The task of preserving Chicago’s slim lead in the bottom of the ninth fell to Cotten Brewer. Chapman led off with a full count dying quail double that fell just in front of a diving Crow-Armstrong’s glove in center. Estrada beat out a bunt to the mound, sending Chappy to third.

 Chapman made it a one run game by scoring on a sacrifice fly to left by Michael Conforto pinch hitting for Matos. Exit Brewer. Enter Drew Smyly. Patrick Bailey, pinch hitting for Casali singled to center, sending Estrada to second. A walk to Ahmed, and the bases were loaded for Austin Slater, who sent a game tying sacrifice fly to center. Ramos was granted an intentional walk, and Wilmer Flores sent the Giant fans home happy with an anticlimactic but game winning walk.

Smyly was frowning at this turn of events and was charged with the loss

The game featured some excellent fielding by both teams. Two plays by Chicago’s shortstop, Dansby Swanson come to mind, his leaping catch of Estrada’s scorching line drive in the second and his backhanded grab and throw of Casali’s ground ball in the third. Although Ramos didn’t make any spectacular plays, he covered a lot of ground and did the number 24 proud in center field.

The second of this four game series will take place Tuesday, at 6:45. Chicago’s Kyle Hendricks (1-4, 7.46) will face off against a motley crew from San Francisco’s bullpen.

Chicago Cubs Ian Happ (right) is congratulated by third base coach Willie Harris (left) after Happ’s solo home run in the bottom of the fourth against the San Francisco Giants Wed Jun 19, 2024 (AP News photo)

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Wrigley Field

Chicago, Illinois

San Francisco Giants 5 (36-39)

Chicago Cubs 6 (36-39)

Win: Kyle Hendricks (1-4)

Loss: Spencer Bivens (1-1)

Save: Colten Brewer (1)

Time: 2:45

Attendance: 37,673

By Stephen Ruderman

The wind once again blew out on another hot day at Wrigley Field, and the Giants’ offense made Kyle Hendricks look like the Hendricks of old, as the Cubs scored six runs off the Giants’ bullpen to take the series with a 6-5 win.

After a rough and surreal night last night at historic Wrigley Field, in which the great Willie Mays passed away and the Giants lost the second game of this series, the Giants would be right back at it Wednesday afternoon in the rubber match of this three-game series. Willie would be with the Giants in spirit Wednesday afternoon.

The Giants added a back memorial patch for Willie to the left chest of their jersey that should be assumed will be worn by the team the rest of the season. The circular black patch, surrounded by an orange outline, has Mays’ number 24 in orange, as well as “Mays” name in orange.

The Giants also had a jersey with Mays’ number 24 on the back in their dugout this afternoon. Oh, and the wind was still blowing out to center field at the historic ballpark where Willie played as a visiting player throughout his career.

As the Giants looked to take the series today, they had everything in their favor. It was 91 degrees at Wrigley Field; the wind was blowing straight out to center field; and they were facing the veteran, Kyle Hendricks, who came into Wednesday’s game 0-4 with an 8.20 ERA. The stars were aligned for the Giants’ home-run happy offense to explode.

Hendricks, the long remaining Cub from their 2016 world championship team that ended 108 years of suffering for the Cubs in their fans, took the mound for the top of the first inning. Hendricks walked Heliot Ramos with one out, but he struck out the other three hitters he faced.

For the Giants, this would be another one of those bullpen games. The flame-throwing lefty, Erik Miller, was the Giants’ opener Wednesday afternoon, and he walked one and struck out two over a scoreless and hitless bottom of the first.

Speaking of hitless, that’s exactly what the Giants were against Hendricks for the first half of this game. Hendricks, the 34-year-old veteran pitching in his 11th year in the big leagues, may have come into this game with an 8.20 ERA, but today, the Giants’ offense made him look like the Hendricks of old.

The Giants were hitless through five innings, and Hendricks retired 14-straight after his one-out walk to Ramos in the top of the first.

As for the Giants’ pitching front, Spencer Bivens, coming off his day for the ages on Sunday in which he got the win in his major league debut after a long and arduous journey to the big leagues, came in to pitch for San Francisco in the bottom of the second.

Ian Happ greeted Bivens with a ground-rule double to center to lead off the bottom of the second, but Bivens retired the side in order immediately afterwards. In the bottom of the third, Bivens again had to deal with a runner in scoring position with nobody out. This time, he had the bases loaded with nobody out.

Cody Bellinger was the man Bivens had to face with the bases juiced. Bivens got Bellinger to hit a chopper back to the mound that Bivens threw home to get Pete Crow-Armstrong for the first out of the inning, but Bellinger was called safe at first by First Base Umpire Cory Blaser on the back end of the potential double play.

It was a bang-bang play at first, which prompted Bob Melvin to challenge it. The play was overturned, and indeed it was a double play. Christopher then hit a shot back to the mound that glanced off Bivens’ right pitching hand, and went to shortstop Brett Wisely, who retired Morel to end the inning.

Somehow, Bivens got out of the bottom of the third unscathed, and his pitching hand was good enough for him to come back out for the bottom of the fourth. However, Ian Happ and Dansby Swanson hit back-to-back home runs to start the bottom of the fourth. Bivens then walked Michael Busch, and Melvin pulled Bivens for Sean Hjelle.

Unlike his major league debut Sunday, Bivens faced a far-superior offense and team in the Cubs. In two-plus innings, Bivens gave up two runs and counting, five hits and two walks. However, Bivens was able to work out of a pair of jams before the long ball finally got him in the bottom of the fourth.

Hjelle was now in the game with a runner on first and still nobody out in the bottom of the fourth. Miguel Amaya singled Busch over to second, and that brought up Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Counsell had Crow-Armstrong lay down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over to second and third, but when third-baseman Matt Chapman came in to field the bunt, he bobbled it and then ended up throwing it away. Busch scored; Amaya went to third; and Crow-Armstong went to second.

The Cubs now led 3-0, and they had a chance to blow this thing open. Somehow, Hjelle got out of the inning without any more damage. Hjelle ended up retiring six-straight, as he threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth.

The Giants finally got their first pitch off Cy Hendricks when Thairo Estrada led off the sixth inning with a double to left. Trenton Brooks flew out to left, and Wisely reached on a bunt single that moved Estrada over to third. The white-hot Heliot Ramos came up, and he beat out the back end of a near double play to knock in Estrada and put the Giants on the board.

Counsell pulled Hendricks, who was certainly on his game Wednesday. In five and two thirds innings pitched, Hendricks gave up just a run and two hits, while walking just one and striking out eight.

Hendricks was replaced by the now-longtime veteran left-hander, Drew Smyly. Smyly pitched for the Giants in 2020, but he’s been around so long that he pitched against the Giants as a member of the Detroit Tigers way back in the 2012 World Series.

Anyway, the Giants looked to tie the game against Smyly, as Patrick Bailey singled Ramos over to second. However, Smyly struck Chapman out swinging to end the inning. Left-hander Taylor Rogers pitched a scoreless bottom of the sixth for the Giants, and Smyly was back out on the mound for the Cubs in the top of the seventh.

Austin Slater pinch-hit for Michael Conforto and drew a walk to start the inning. Jorge Soler struck out swinging, and then Mike Yastrzemski singled Slater over to second. Thairo Estrada was now at the plate with runners at first and second with one out.

Smyly fell behind in the count 3-0, but Home Plate Umpire Nestor Ceja called the next two pitches, which were both a bit off the outside corner, strikes to fill the count up to 3-2. Then, two pitches later, Smyly threw a beautiful knuckle curve on the outside corners at the top of the zone for strike three.

Wilmer Flores flew out to center, and this ended up being yet another wasted opportunity by the Giants’ offense. The Cubs kept their 3-1 lead, as Spencer Howard came in for San Francisco in the bottom of the seventh.

Nico Hoerner led off the inning with a ground-rule double to right. Seiya Suzuki struck out on a foul tip. Cody Bellinger got Hoerner to third on an infield single, and Christopher Morel walked to load the bases. Ian Happ struck out swinging, and Howard now had a chance to get out of the inning unscathed.

Dansby Swanson came up and lined a base-hit to left that scored a pair to extend the Cubs’ lead to 5-1. Swanson then tried to steal second and was caught in a rundown, but when shortstop Brett Wisely threw to first-baseman Wilmer Flores as Swanson tried to return to first, Flores dropped the ball, and Morel scored to make it 6-1.

Swanson was at second, as the Cubs looked to make this baby a laugher. Michael Busch lined a base-hit to left that spat out of Austin Slater’s glove, and at this point, this inning was turning into a blooper reel. Mercifully for the Giants, the deficit stayed 6-1 going to the eighth.

The wind was still blowing out to center field as the game went to the eighth. Mark Leiter Jr. was the new pitcher for Chicago. Brett Wisely singled to lead off the inning, and after Ramos and Bailey grounded into force outs, Chapman and Slater walked to load the bases for Jorge Soler.

After struggling with runners on base all season long, Soler finally started finding success with runners on last week. Now, here he was with the bases loaded, and if he could run into one, it would suddenly be a brand-new ballgame.

Counsell brought in Tyson Miller, and Soler hit an absolute bomb to left field that was headed for Waveland Avenue, but hit off the “nUTRL” sign above the bleachers out in left. It would’ve been cool had the ball made it all the way to Waveland, but it ultimately didn’t matter where the ball landed; it was now a 6-5 game, and the Giants were right back in it.

Ryan Walker threw a 1-2-3 shutdown inning in the bottom of the eighth, and the Giants would try to create some ninth inning magic against Colten Brewer, the man who Craig Counsell brought in to try and convert the save this afternoon.

Estrada grounded out to third to start the inning, but Flores walked and was pinch-run for by Nick Ahmed. Brett Wisely also walked, and the Giants had the man they wanted at the plate in Heliot Ramos. Ramos hit a slow shopper up the middle, but shortstop Dansby Swanson made a nice play to barely get Ramos at first for the second out.

Ramos did move the runners over to second and third, and if Patrick Bailey could come through, there was a good chance the Giants would have the lead. Unfortunately, Bailey grounded out to second to end the game, and the Cubs held on to win it 6-5.

Kyle Harrison very fittingly got his first win of the season against the Giants. Spencer Bivens got the win in his major league debut on Sunday, but here today in his second big league outing, he took the loss. Colten Brewer, meanwhile, got his first save of the year.

The Giants fall back to three games under .500 at 36-39, and they will now head to Birmingham, Alabama for a special game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field on Thursday, the first major league park that Willie Mays called home.

The Giants will be the road team, and the Cardinals will be the home team. Keaton Winn (3-7, 6.66 ERA) will be the Thursday lucky man, who will have the honor of being the starting pitcher for the Giants in this game . Opposing Winn for the Cardinals will be Andre Pallante (2-3, 4.61 ERA).

First pitch will be at 7:15 p.m. in Birmingham, and 4:15 p.m. back home in San Francisco on Thursday night. The game will be nationally televised on FOX, and the Giants announced just Wednesday that Oracle Park will open at noon Thursday for fans to come pay tribute to Willie and watch the game on the scoreboard.

San Francisco Giants Jorge Soler (left) celebrates with Mike Yastrzemski (right) after scoring on a Curt Casali two run double in the top of the fifth inning at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Tue Jun 18, 2024 (AP News photo)

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Wrigley Field

Chicago, Illinois

San Francisco Giants 2 (36-38)

Chicago Cubs 5 (35-39)

Win: Tyson Miller (1-0)

Loss: Tyler Rogers (0-2)

Save: Keegan Thompson (1)

Time: 2:10

Attendance: 36,297

By Stephen Ruderman

The Cubs scored three runs off the usually-reliable Tyler Rogers in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat the Giants 5-2 on a solemn and hauntingly-beautiful Tuesday night at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

After Thairo Estrada’s three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning led the Giants to a 7-6 comeback win last night in the opener of this series, the Giants looked to build off their momentum and get their third-straight win behind their ace, Logan Webb, tonight. However, with a strong wind blowing out to center field, Webb would be in for a challenge.

Left-hander Justin Steele made the start for the Cubs, and he got his night started with a 1-2-3 top of the first inning. Webb started his night the same way in the bottom of the first.

Steele pitched a scoreless top of the second, and after Ian Happ singled up the middle with one out in the bottom of the second, Dansby Swanson hit a home run out into the wind in right-center to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead.

Steele pitched another scoreless inning in the top of the third, and Webb ran into a bit of two-out trouble in the bottom of the third. Michael Busch lined a base-hit to left, and Cody Bellinger singled him over to third base. Webb was then able to get Seiya Suzuki to fly out to left to end the inning.

Steele and Webb both pitched 1-2-3 innings in the fourth, but during the inning, a bigger story began to transcend Tueday night’s game.

As the game went to the bottom of the fourth, it was announced that Willie Mays, arguably the greatest player in Baseball History, had died this afternoon at the age of 93. This news came just two days before the Giants are set to play the St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field, the first major league ballpark that Mays called home.

After the news was announced, a beautiful sunset encompassed Wrigley Field, and the sun lit the clouds above the ballpark orange. As the winds continued to blow out to center field while the Giants played the Cubs at Wrigley Field, one of only three remaining major league ballparks that Willie Mays played at, you couldn’t help but think that the Baseball Gods had painted that entire picture as the great Willie Mays became one with them.

Meanwhile, back on the field, the Giants tied the game in the top of the fifth. Jorge Soler led off the inning with a walk, and Mike Yastrzemski walked with one out to put runners at first and second for Curt Casali, who shot a double into the gap in left-center to tie it.

It was now 2-2, and the Cubs were threatening to retake the lead in the bottom of the fifth, as they loaded the bases against Webb with two outs. Suzuki ended up flying out to left, and Webb was able to get out of it without any damage.

After Justin Steele pitched another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the sixth, and as Steele and the Cubs left the field, a moment of silence was held under the orange sunset at Wrigley.

Webb settled down and threw 1-2-3 innings in the bottom of the sixth and seventh, and he ended up having a strong outing despite the conditions at Wrigley. Webb gave up two runs and six hits, while walking one and striking out five over seven innings.

Steele ended up going six two-thirds innings, and he gave up two runs and four hits, while walking two and striking out eighth. Tyson Miller struck Casali out swinging to close out the top of, and Miller pitched a 1-2-3 top of the eighth.

Tyler Rogers, who’s usually quite dominant, came in for the bottom of the eighth, but he had one of those innings where everything exploded on him.

Busch lined a double to right to start the inning, and Bellinger knocked in Busch with a base-hit the other way to left to put the Cubs back ahead 3-2. Suzuki singled Bellinger over to third and stole second, and Ian Happ grounded a base-hit to right to score Bellinger and make it 4-2. Rogers walked David Bote to load the bases, and Bob Melvin brought in Luke Jackson.

Christopher Morel was now at the plate, and he nicked in Happ with an infield hit to short. The Cubs had now scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 5-2 lead.

Cubs’ closer Hector Neris, who blew the save last night, did not come in for the top of the ninth. Instead, Craig Counsell opted for Keegan Thompson, who closed out the game with a 1-2-3 inning.

Tyson Miller got the win; Tyler Rogers took the loss; and Keegan Thompson picked up his first save of the season.

The Giants will try to take the series against the lone remaining player from the Cubs’ world championship team of 2016, Kyle Hendricks (0-4, 8.20 ERA). It will be hot Wednesday, and if the wind blows out again at Wrigley, with Hendricks’ season, the Giants will be in a good position to win the series.

First pitch will be at 1:20 p.m. in Chicago, 11:20 a.m. back home in San Francisco.

San Francisco Giants Mike Yastrzemski (5) celebrates with Thairo Estrada for Estrada’s three run home run in the top of the ninth inning at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Mon Jun 2, 2024 (AP News photo)

Monday, June 17, 2024

Wrigley Field

Chicago, Illinois

San Francisco Giants 7 (36-37)

Chicago Cubs 6 (34-39)

Win: Erik Miller (2-2)

Loss: Hector Neris (6-2)

Save: Camilo Doval (13)

Time: 3:06

Attendance: 36,048

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants came back to win a crazy game against at Wrigley Field in Chicago, as Thairo Estrada hit a three run home run in the top of the ninth, and the Giants ended up beating the Cubs 7-6.

It was hot, and the wind was blowing out to right field at Wrigley, which meant the ball was flying out during batting practice. Usually, that also meant that it would be a high-scoring game. That would be good for a Giants’ offense that has gotten quite home run happy over the last 11 days. The heat and the wind blowing out also meant that this was likely going to be a crazy game.

Javier Assad, who looked more like an accountant than a pitcher with his glasses, made the start for the Cubs, and he threw a 1-2-3 top of the first inning. Brett Wisely and Heliot Ramos were both called out on nut cutter pitches by Home Plate Umpire Manny Gonzalez that they took umbrage to, and Patrick Bailey grounded out to first base.

Jordan Hicks made the start for San Francisco, and he walked former Giant Mike Tauchman to start the bottom of the first. Christopher Morel then flew out to left field, but Tauchman boldly tried to take second, and he was nabbed at second on a one-hop throw from left-fielder Michael Conforto. Cody Bellinger lined out to right, and Hicks ended up throwing a fairly-quick inning.

Assad threw a scoreless top of the second, as Gonzalez called Mike Yastrzemski on a pitch that was clearly inside to end the inning. Hicks walked Ian Happ with one in the bottom of the second but threw another scoreless inning.

The Giants would have their first opportunity in the top of the third. Thairo Estrada lined a base-hit to left to start the inning, and Trenton Brooks walked to put runners at first and second with nobody out for the top of the order.

Opportunities with runners in scoring position have been the real kryptonite for the Giants all season, and here they were with an early opportunity tonight. Wisely made Assad work through an eight-pitch at-bat before flying out to right and moving Estrada to third, but Ramos struck out swinging, and Patrick Bailey flew out to center to waste another opportunity.

Hicks pitched another scoreless inning in the bottom of the third, but with two outs, Tauchman reached on an infield hit, and ended up leaving when he hurt himself stepping on the bag first.

Assad walked Jorge Soler with two outs in the top of the fourth, and Yastrzemski hit a triple to the gap in right-center to put the Giants on the board. The Giants were able to get an RBI hit, but considering that runners weren’t in scoring position, that is probably why.

Hicks ran into trouble for the first time with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. After Hicks retired the first two men he faced, Happ and Nico Hoerner both singled, and Michael Busch walked to load the bases. However, Hicks was able to get Dansby Swanson to ground out to end the inning.

Ramos and Bailey singled with two outs off Assad in the top of the fifth, but you guessed it, the Giants were unable to come through, as Matt Chapman flew out to Seiya Suzuki. Though, to the Giants’ credit, Suzuki made a nice catch along the line and up against the side wall.

The Cubs almost got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Patrick Wisdom, who pinch-ran for Tauchman in the third, walked with one out, and Morel singled Wisdom over to third.

Cody Bellinger flew out to shallow right, and when Wisdom tried to score, Yastrzemski, who ran in to make the catch, had all the momentum he needed to throw a perfect one-hopper to nail Wisdom at the plate. The Cubs challenged what was an extremely-close play, but there was not enough evidence either way, and the call was upheld.

Melvin noted the difficult situation catcher Patrick Bailey was in to make that play.

“They’re momentum swings,” said Manager Bob Melvin. “It’s a huge play. You gotta make a great throw, and now with the blocking the plate stuff, Bail[ey] has got to have the presence of mind to start in the right spot, which is very difficult. When it’s a one-run game, you’re just digging to get an out…..Bailey made a nice play at the plate. Now all the sudden, it’s a momentum swing in our dugout.”

That also ended the night for Jordan Hicks, who threw 87 pitches, gave up four hits, walked four and struck out four over five shutout innings.

Left-hander Luke Little came in for the accountant, Assad, for the top of the sixth and walked Michael Conforto to start the inning. Conforto advanced to second on a ground out by Soler. Yastrzemski then placed a beautiful bunt along the third base line that stayed fair and allowed him to reach. Hayden Wesneski came in and walked Estrada to load the bases, and here the Giants were again with a golden opportunity.

So what happened? Trenton Brooks struck out swinging in a really brutal at-bat. As Brooks was waiting for the first pitch from Wesneski, he was in the box but not facing the pitcher with eight seconds left on the Pitch Clock, which meant there was an automatic strike. Brooks then swung and missed at two pitches in the first, and Wisely flew out to left to end the inning and waste yet another opportunity for the Giants.

Randy Rodriguez was brought in for the bottom of the sixth and gave up a leadoff base-hit to Suzuki. Happ grounded into a double play, but Hoerner reached on an infield hit, and Busch hit a home run to left-center to give the Cubs their first lead of the night.

Heliot Ramos hit a home run into the wind in right-center on the first pitch from Wesneski in the top of the seventh to tie the game, and Bailey followed that up with a walk to put the go-ahead run on. Chapman grounded into a force play, and Conforto and Soler both walked to load the bases.

It was yet another golden opportunity for the Giants, as Cubs Manager Craig Counsell went to Mark Leiter Jr., the son of former Giants’ pitcher Mark Leiter Sr. The Giants appeared ready to waste it when Yastrzemski struck out swinging for the second out, but this would turn out to be an opportunity they would not waste.

Well, they got a little help. Thairo Estrada was hit on the right forearm to give the Giants the lead. Brooks struck out swinging, and that ended the inning.

Unfortunately, the Giants’ lead would not last long. Rodriguez was back out for the bottom of the seventh, and he got catcher Miguel Amaya to ground out to short to start the inning. Wisdom then hit a popup to the right side of the infield, but there was confusion between the infielders, and the ball dropped. Morel popped up to catcher Patrick Bailey in foul territory, and Melvin went to left-hander Erik Miller.

Miller’s first pitch to Bellinger was a nut cutter slider right on the inside corner called a ball. Bailey took exception to the call by Manny Gonzalez, and after Miller threw a changeup down and away for ball two, Gonzalez called the next two pitches that were both in the zone balls, and Bellinger walked to put runners at first and second with two outs.

Suzuki now came up to the plate, and he pulled a double down the left field line to tie it. Happ then hit a bomb to the back of the bleachers to give the Cubs a 6-3 lead, and the damage was done. Leiter was back out for the top of the eighth, and Bailey hit a solo home run off the scoreboard in right to make it 6-4.

Next up was Matt Chapman, and after Gonzalez called him out on a nut cutter sinker at the knees, Melvin got ejected from the dugout and came out to give Gonzalez an earful. This was Melvin’s third ejection through 73 games this season. That ties the total of three his predecessor, Gabe Kapler, had in his entire four-stint managing the Giants.

Miller stayed out and threw a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the eighth, and Cubs’ Closer Hector Neris was brought in for the ninth. Conforto grounded out to second to begin the inning, but the Giants caught a break when Soler reached on catcher’s interference. Yastrzemski then walked to bring the go-ahead run to the plate for Thairo Estrada.

Estrada, who had been struggling, has started turning it around over the last few days. Here, he had an opportunity to keep it going, and keep it going he did. Estrada hit a three-run home run to left on the first pitch from Neris to give the Giants a 7-6 lead, and the normally-mild-mannered Estrada showed a lot of emotion rounding the bases.

Camilo Doval was torched when he was brought in to close the Giants’ blowout of the Angels yesterday at Oracle Park, and he would get a chance to quickly bounce back tonight. Doval has had a rough go at things since allowing four runs in a blown save and loss to the Yankees on June 2, as his ERA had ballooned up to 4.88.

The first man Doval would face was Patrick Wisdom, and Doval was immediately down 2-0. He then caught a break when Manny Gonzelez called a sinker that appeared to be off the plate for ball 3 a strike. Doval settled down and got Wisdom to pop out to first.

Gonzalez’s ball calls to Cody Bellinger in the bottom of the seventh helped lead to Seiya Suzuki’s three run home run, and here in the ninth, his strike calls certainly helped Doval calm down. That’s just Baseball.

“Umpiring’s not as easy job, but both sides have to deal with it.” said Melvin. “Sometimes, it goes your way; sometimes, it doesn’t.”

In the ninth, it went the Giants’ way. Not only did Doval come back to get Wisdom to pop, he ended up throwing a 1-2-3 inning to close it out.

“That’s what [Doval] does,” said Melvin. “It was difficult having to bring him in that game yesterday, because that’s all we had left; and we’re trying to play chess with this thing and have certain guys available on a certain day, and that’s not an ideal situation for a closer. [It] doesn’t surprise me [that] he came back and pitched the way he did today.”

The Giants’ offense wasted a couple more opportunities tonight, but the wind blowing out at Wrigley carried the Giants’ now-home run-happy offense to a big win.

“These guys are really pushing hard,” said Melvin. “It seems like, for a lot of the year, our at-bats get better later in the game.”

Erik Miller got the win; Hector Nerris got the loss; and Camilo Doval got his 13th save of the year. The Giants improve to 36-37, and they can get back up to .500 for the first time since May 31 with a win tomorrow night.

Doing the honors on the hill for the Giants Tuesday night will be their ace, Logan Webb (6-5. 3.02 ERA), and he will be opposed by left-hander Justin Steele (0-3, 3.22 ERA). First pitch will be at 7:05 p.m. at Wrigley FIeld, and 5:05 p.m. back home in San Francisco.

Giants News and Notes:

Some news on the injury front:

Kyle Harrison, who was scratched from his start yesterday after spraining his right ankle in his bullpen session Saturday stayed behind in San Francisco.

Blake Snell threw a bullpen session on Saturday in San Francisco, and tomorrow, he will pitch three innings in a simulated game. It will be Snell’s first time facing live hitting since straining his left groin in his last start, which came against the Yankees on June 2. Snell could possibly return to the rotation as soon as Saturday or Sunday when the Giants take on the Cardinals in St. Louis.

LaMonte Wade, who has been out since May 27 with a strained left hamstring, did travel with the team to Chicago to continue baseball activities. According to Andrew Baggarly, the Giants Beat Writer for The Athletic, Wade is “pushing” hard to play in Thursday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. However, after comments from Manager Bob Melvin, it does not appear that Wade will get to play in Thursday night’s game.

Robbie Ray is scheduled to pitch three innings in his third Arizona Complex League appearance when the ACL Giants take on the ACL White Sox at the Giants’ minor league spring training complex in Scottsdale.

Alex Cobb and Tristan Beck both had bullpen sessions today in San Francisco. It is unknown how those went.

Willie Mays, whose career started for the Birmingham Black Barons in the Negro American League in 1948, will not make the trip to Rickwood Field, which was the first professional ballpark he called home. Mays, 93, put out the following statement.

“I’m not able to get to Birmingham this year but will follow the game back here in the Bay Area,” said Mays. “My heart will be with all of you who are honoring the Negro League ballplayers, who should always be remembered, including all my teammates on the Black Barons. I wanted to thank Major League Baseball, the Giants, the Cardinals and all the fans who’ll be at Rickwood or watching the game. It’ll be a special day, and I hope the kids will enjoy it and be inspired by it.”

My thoughts:

If the Giants are going to make a serious run at the Playoffs, they cannot rely solely on home runs. The Giants are not entirely built to hit home runs, and Oracle Park is not a ballpark made for home runs. Hitting home runs will work in certain ballparks, but if they stay home run happy like this, it’s going to get them into trouble, just as we saw in the homestand last week.

When the Giants have runners in scoring position in a situation to put up a crooked number, it’s pretty much a given that they are going to waste it. The Giants have wasted an incredible amount of opportunities this year, and teams that waste the amount of opportunities that the Giants do typically don’t end up in the Postseason.

The Giants are perfectly capable of playing fundamental situational baseball and getting the big RBI hits when needed. In fact, that’s what they did when they won 10 of 12 at the end of May this year, and that’s what they did when they made their 57-38 run from May 15 to July 23 last year.

That’s what made it so frustrating when then-Manager Gabe Kapler expressed his disappointment with the lack of home runs the Giants were hitting following a 6-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Aug. 26 of last year. Kapler didn’t get, and despite his genius, President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi sometimes seems not to get that this team is built to play situational baseball.

Bob Melvin does get it, and he acknowledged just that following the Giants’ 5-3 win over the Houston Astros last Wednesday. It was more apparent yesterday, when they scored nine of their 13 runs in their 13-6 win over the Los Angeles without a home run.

This team is a good team, and they are a much better team than people think. If they can consistently play good situational baseball and get healthy, then they stand a real shot at getting back to the Postseason this year.