Game Recap: Cubs falls to Giants |
Dustin Riese
· · 6 hours ago
SAN FRANCISCO - Coming off a three-game sweep of the Anaheim Angels to open up their nine-game West Coast trip, the Vibes are good right now for the Chicago Cubs (76-56). The same can be said about the San Francisco Giants (64-68), who may be out of the playoff race right now, but after taking two of three from Milwaukee over the weekend, they are trying for one last late push.
Kicking off a three-game set at Oracle Park on Tuesday, it was the Cubs turning to Matthew Boyd as he was set to face Justin Verlander. There is no question that Boyd has been one of the biggest, if not the biggest, surprise when it comes to the free agent pitching acquisitions this offseason, but it goes far deeper than that. We are five months into the season, and Boyd has allowed more than four runs in just four starts this season. Two of those starts came against the Brewers, which means that out of his other 20-plus starts, he has allowed four runs or more on two occasions. That goes to show how well he has performed all season and is a significant reason why the Cubs have been able to survive the Justin Steele injury. Unfortunately, Boyd struggled for the second time in as many outings, allowing at least four runs in back-to-back starts for the first time this season as the Giants took down the Cubs in their series opener 5-2. Boyd hasn't been as sharp in his past two outings, and with five runs allowed across 5 1/3 innings, that was again the case as he fell to 12-7 for the season. Oddly enough, Justin Verlander had one of his better outings of the season in this one, and that makes two starts against the Cubs where he has looked like the Verlander of old. The future first ballot Hall of Famer gave the Giants six impressive innings of two-run, five-strikeout baseball and is now 2-10 for the season. Things got a little dicey for Verlander immediately in the first, with Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong coming up with a pair of two-out singles, only to come away empty-handed in the first. That was one of the few big-time scoring opportunities the Cubs had, and they let Verlander off the hook early. For a team that entered the game statistically the worst-hitting team against lefties, you wouldn't have guessed it, as they had plenty of good swings and loud contact against Boyd all night. Take Wilmer Flores in the second, who unloaded for a solo shot that gave the Giants an early 1-0 lead. It was a lead the Giants would make hold for a while as the Cubs wasted another two-out scoring opportunity in the third and left four runners on base in the first three innings. It wasn't until the fourth inning that the Cubs were finally able to cash in, and that all started with a one-out Ian Happ double, as the Cubs had a runner in scoring position for the third time in four innings. Dansby Swanson followed that with a two-out walk to keep things alive, setting the stage for Matt Shaw, who delivered a clutch RBI single to tie things up 1-1. That was the momentum swing the Cubs needed as another two-out double from Crow-Armstrong set the Cubs offense up in the fifth, only to have Carson Kelly deliver another knock that saw them take the lead 2-1. Speaking of the fifth, after being held in check apart from that second inning solo shot, the Giants' offense found new life in their half of the fifth and started to make life difficult for Boyd on the mound. All it took to turn things around was a leadoff double from Luis Matos, and just like that, the Giants were on the verge of tying this one up. Boyd countered by retiring the next two hitters only to have Heliot Ramos come through with another double to tie things up 2-2. That was only the start for the Giants as Rafael Devers followed suit with a single that put the Giants on top 3-2, and they would never look back as he got credit for the game-winning hit. Looking to at the very least give the Cubs six innings after Verlander did the same for the Giants, Boyd got off to a quick start before walking Flores to put another runner on for the Giants. It was that at-bat where you could see the fatigue setting in, and with Matt Chapman answering with a two-run blast to push the Giants' lead to 5-2, Boyd was done, as that was the final hitter he would face, with Drew Pomeranz and the pen set to take over. There was a straightforward approach by Craig Counsell in this one, as he knew the Giants' struggles against lefties and chose to go all lefties in this one, as Pomeranz, Taylor Rogers, and Jordan Wicks followed Boyd with 3 2/3 scoreless frames as they did their part to keep the Cubs within striking distance. The only problem was watching the Giants pen do the same in their three innings, with Joey Lucchesi and Jose Butto delivering perfect outings, sending things to the ninth. In need of a massive ninth inning, Swanson did his part by picking up a one-out single as he gave the Cubs a big baserunner. That only does a team well if you can convert, and the Cubs couldn't with Ryan Walters striking out the final two hitters he faced to secure the 5-2 Giants win.
