Yesterday, I went to the second game in the Cubs vs Giants series at Chicago. It was a sad game, as the Cubs did take a tough loss, but they put up a nice effort late in the game to try and get some runs against the best of the Giants’ bullpen. The Giants definitely put up a good effort, as they did get a good amount of runs and did hit the pitches they needed to for a nice win.
The game was a night game, but it was still great baseball weather. Sunny and clear skies, warm weather, and to top it off there was a great sunset at the start of the game. I was very excited for the pitching matchup, as it was José Quintana vs Chris Stratton.It was the first time that I saw Quintana pitch in 2018, so that was another reason to get excited. On the way to the game, I checked the starting lineups for each team.
San Francisco Giants:
- Gorkys Hernández – CF
- Andrew McCutchen – RF
- Evan Longoria – 3B
- Brandon Belt – 1B
- Mac Williamson – LF
- Brandon Crawford – SS
- Nick Huntley – C
- Kelby Tomlinson – 2B
- Chris Stratton – SP
Chicago Cubs:
- Ben Zobrist – 2B
- Kyle Schwarber – LF
- Kris Bryant – 3B
- Anthony Rizzo – 1B
- Willson Contreras – C
- Ian Happ – CF
- Javier Báez – SS
- Jason Heyward – RF
- José Quintana – SP
The game started opening up scoring pretty quickly, as in the 2nd inning Rizzo opened up the inning with a walk. Contreras came up next and hit a single to left field to bring Rizzo to 2nd. Happ came up next, and also walked, which loaded the bases with no outs. Then Báez came up, and grounded out to Stratton, who threw home and got Rizzo out to make the bases loaded again but with one out and still no runs. Then Heyward came up and walked, scoring the first run of the game and making it 1-0 Cubs. Then Quintana came up and grounded into a double play, with Tomlinson throwing it to Crawford who threw it to Belt to end the inning.
Scoring opened up next inning in the 3rd as well. Zobrist opened up the inning with a fly out to McCutchen. Then Schwarber came up and absolutely destroyed a ball over to deep right field for a solo home run that traveled 437 feet to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead. Next up were Bryant and Rizzo, who both struck out swinging.
In the 4th inning, the Giants started off their own scoring. Belt started with a line out to Schwarber. Williamson came up next and walked. Next up was Crawford, who got a great hit off of Quintana that went out to left field for a solid 360 foot home run, tying the game. Hundley came up next and grounded out over to Bryant for the second out of the inning. Tomlinson came up next, and flew out to Heyward for the third out. The Cubs came up next, starting with Contreras who grounded out to Crawford and was called safe but later it was called out. Happ came up next and struck out swinging, but then Báez came up. He sent a ball deep to left field for a solo home run, giving the Cubs a 3-2 lead. Next Heyward came up and singled to McCutchen, but Quintana grounded out to Stratton afterwards, for the third out of the inning.
Next inning, Stratton opened up with a line out to Happ. Then up was Hernández, who hit a ball down the left field line that was called fair for a double. Next up was McCutchen, who doubled to deep center field and scored Hernández, making the game tied at 3 runs each. At that point, Quintana was taken out of the game and replaced with Steve Cishek. Cishek got Longoria to fly out to Heyward for the second out, but Belt came up next and singled to left field, scoring McCutchen and giving the Giants the lead at 4-3. Next up was Williamson, who struck out swinging.
In the 7th inning, Hernández led off the inning and got a single off of a bunt to Zobrist. Next up was McCutchen, who grounded out to Bryant, bringing Hernández to second base. Next up was Longoria, who singled to left field, almost scoring Hernández although Schwarber made an excellent throw which held him to third. Cishek was then taken out of the game and was replaced by Justin Wilson. Belt then hit a sacrifice fly to Schwarber, scoring Hernández and brining Longoria to second, making the Giants take a 5-3 lead. Williamson then came up next and struck out on a foul tip.
The final scoring of the game occurred in the 8th inning. Schwarber led off the inning against Tony Watson, hitting a double to McCutchen. Bryant then came up next and lined out to Grégor Blanco. Then Rizzo came up, and hit an opposite field single to left field, scoring Schwarber and cutting the Giants lead to 5-4. Up next was Contreras, who proceeded to ground into a double play. Crawford got it and threw it to Tomlinson who threw it to Belt for the final two outs of the inning.
For the final 3 outs of the game, the Giants brought in Hunter Strickland to try and win them the game. Tommy La Stella came in to pinch hit, and flew out to Blanco for the first out. Next up was Báez, who popped out to Tomlinson for the second out of the inning. Next up was Heyward, who grounded out to Tomlinson to end the game and give the Giants the win.
Game Performances:
San Francisco Giants:
Hitting:
- Gorkys Hernández – 3-5, 2 R, 1 SO, 2 2B, 1 1B
- Andrew McCutchen – 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 2B, 1 1B
- Evan Longoria – 2-5, 1 2B, 1 1B
- Brandon Belt – 1-3, 2 RBI, 1 SO, 1 1B
- Mac Williamson – 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 1 1B
- Brandon Crawford – 2-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 2B
- Nick Hundley – 0-4, 3 SO
- Kelby Tomlinson – 0-4, 2 SO
- Chris Stratton – 0-2, 1 SO
- Miguel Gómez – 0-1, 1 SO
- Pablo Sandoval – 0-1, 1 SO
- Grégor Blanco – 0-0, 1 BB
Pitching:
- Chris Stratton – Win, 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO, 2 HR
- Reyes Moronta – Hold, 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
- Sam Dyson – Hold, 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO
- Tony Watson – Hold, 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
- Hunter Strickland – Save, 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
Chicago Cubs:
Hitting:
- Ben Zobrist – 0-4, 1 SO
- Kyle Schwarber – 2-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 2B
- Kris Bryant – 0-4, 3 SO
- Anthony Rizzo – 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 1B
- Willson Contreras – 1-4, 1 R, 1 1B
- Ian Happ – 0-2, 1 BB, 1 SO
- Javier Báez – 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 SO
- Jason Heyward – 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 1B
- José Quintana – 0-2
- Tommy La Stella – 0-1
- Albert Almora Jr. – 1-1, 1 2B
Pitching:
- José Quintana – Loss, 4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO, 1 HR
- Steve Cishek – 2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO
- Justin Wilson – 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO
- Pedro Strop – 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO
The MLB Enthusiast 