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.
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