Cubs rally late for series-opening win over Giants |
SAN FRANCISCO - Things are not coming easy for the Chicago Cubs (27-36) as they traveled to Oracle Park to take on the San Francisco Giants (32-31). Despite their struggles for the better part of 40 games, one of the things you can count on is getting a quality start from your ace, Marcus Stroman, who was back on the mound again.
Stroman has been impressive this season, and he has answered those questions for those who didn't think he was ace material. Stroman wasn't at his best as he walked four and struck out five across 6 2/3, but he did what he always does best, which is limit the damage. Because of that, Stroman allowed two runs for his major league-leading 12th quality start of the season, while the Cubs needed just one inning to score all their runs for the 3-2 win. At some point, you would like to see this Cubs offense score in multiple innings, as all of their runs in the past four games have come in one inning each time. With Anthony Desclafani on the mound for the Giants, the Cubs had an opportunity to have one of those games but couldn't get the bats going early. Entering his start, Desclafani not only led the league in contact percentage on his pitches but was in the bottom five in strikeout percentage and appeared to be a good matchup for the Cubs. Instead, Desclafani goes out and tosses six scoreless frames before falling apart in the seventh. Even at that, the right-hander gave the Giants a great start and finished with two runs allowed but had to suffer the tough luck loss. Despite both pitchers going through some command issues early, neither panicked, and they managed to keep their opposition scoreless for the early innings. This has been an all too common theme for the Cubs and their offense over the past month, and David Ross held a team meeting with the hopes of them being more aggressive at the plate. With the score tied 0-0 in the bottom of the third, the San Francisco offense broke through and cashed in with the game's first run. Ironically, the two-out damage did Stroman in throughout the game, as he couldn't close out his innings as well as he usually does. After walking LaMonte Wade Jr for the second time in as many plate appearances to extend the inning, Joc Pederson put two runners with a single. For Pederson, he had a great night at the plate as he went a perfect 4-4 against his former team. Looking to get out of the inning without any damage, Thairo Estrada would make sure that didn't happen as his RBI double put the Giants in front 1-0. Given how Desclafani looked early, that 1-0 lead started to look like it would hold up. Even with the Cubs having plenty of chances to cash in against Desclafani, it is becoming comical how bad this team is regarding clutch hitting. Although it took seven innings for the Cubs offense to get rolling, once they did, they wanted to ensure that Stroman had a lead big enough that he wouldn't have to worry about his fate. Having Seiya Suzuki lead things off with a single was a good start as he went as he picked up three hits in the game. That hit was followed by an Ian Happ walk and a deep flyout from Dansby Swanson, which moved both baserunners up 90 feet. Looking to pick up a massive RBI, Matt Mervis instead took a pitch off the shin and shifted the responsibility of driving in those runs to someone. Leave it to Nico Hoerner as the man for the job as he entered the game in the seventh for Patrick Wisdom and promptly ripped an RBI single to center two drive in a pair and gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead. Another walk to Christopher Morel loaded the bases, with Tucker Barnhardt capping off that inning with an RBI single to make things 3-1. The Cubs had an opportunity for more runs but couldn't get the job done as Stroman came out to begin the seventh. When it comes to close games, you never feel confident with the Cubs closing things out, so hopefully, their inability to add on wouldn't come back to haunt them. On the verge of getting through the seventh, Ross pulled Stroman at 91 pitches and a man on second as Mark Leiter Jr entered the game. One batter after his entry, you had a 3-2 game with Pederson beating out a close infield single and had the Cubs in an all too familiar position. Fortunately for Leiter Jr, that cheap single didn't bother him as he closed out the seventh with a strikeout and then returned the Giants to their dugout in order during the eighth. Down to their final three outs, it was up to Adbert Alzolay to lock things down as the former starter has been turned reliever. If the Cubs want to fix their late-inning woes and give the ball to a pitcher with confidence, why not give it to Alzolay as he came on to retire the side in order and did so with a ton of swag to secure the save and earn a nice road win for the Cubs. The Cubs finished with seven hits as Suzuki led the way with three.
