Yesterday, I went to see the final game in the Cubs vs Giants series, which was an extremely exciting game. One of the reasons was that I got to see Pablo Sandoval start for a few innings for the first time ever. The Cubs also took an amazing W, getting a ton of amazing hits, including a home run and a few extra base hits. Great performances on both ends of the teams, as the Giants definitely got some good hits too and some good pitching performances.
The day was also a good day for baseball, but it wasn’t extremely ideal. The temperatures were pushing to or above the 90s, but the skies were clear and very sunny. I was pretty excited for the game, however, I was also somewhat worried. I didn’t want the Cubs to lose the series, but I didn’t like the pitching odds for the game. For the Cubs, Tyler Chatwood was on the mound and for the Giants, Ty Blach was on the mound. I was worried because although Chatwood doesn’t have a terrible ERA, he has an insane amount of walks. On the way to the game, I checked out the starting lineups for each team.
San Francisco Giants:
- Gorkys Hernández – CF
- Andrew McCutchen – RF
- Brandon Belt – 1B
- Evan Longoria – 3B
- Brandon Crawford – SS
- Pablo Sandoval – 2B
- Mac Williamson – LF
- Nick Hundley – C
- Ty Blach – SP
Chicago Cubs:
- Albert Almora Jr. – CF
- Javier Báez – 2B
- Kris Bryant – 3B
- Anthony Rizzo – 1B
- Willson Contreras – C
- Kyle Schwarber- LF
- Addison Russell – SS
- Jason Heyward – RF
- Tyler Chatwood – SP
Scoring started off very quickly. In the first inning, The Giants started off with a groundout from Hernández. Then McCutchen came up and walked. Belt came up next and grounded into a force out, bringing him to first with two outs. Then Longoria came up and walked followed by Crawford who singled to Russell. This loaded the bases for Pablo Sandoval, who singled on a ground ball to Russell, scoring Belt and making it 1-0 Giants. Then Williamson came up and singled to right field, scoring McCutchen and Longoria, and giving the Giants a 3-0 lead. Then Hundley came up and grounded out to Baez for the third out.
The Cubs started the bottom of the first inning with a single from Almora to Pablo Sandoval, although it was deflected by Blach. Báez then grounded out and brought Almora to second for the first out. Bryant then came up and launched a double to deep center field, scoring Almora and cutting the Giants’ lead to 3-1. Rizzo then came up and singled to Sandoval although it was deflected again by Blach. This scored Bryant and cut the Giants’ lead to 3-2. Schwarber then came up and singled to center field, bringing Rizzo to third with two outs. Russell then came up, and singled to Sandoval although it was again deflected by Blach, scoring Rizzo and tying the game at 3 runs apiece. Finally, Heyward came up and flew out to Williamson, ending the inning.
The next scoring play occurred in the 4th inning. The Cubs were leading off the inning, starting with pitcher Randy Rosario. He ended up walking for his first at-bat ever in the MLB. Almora came up next and sent a double to right field, bringing Rosario to third. Blach was then taken out of the game and replaced by Pierce Johnson. Báez came up, and absolutely launched a 400 foot home run to deep right field, giving the Cubs a 6-3 lead. Then the Cubs got a quick three outs, as Bryant and Rizzo flew out to Hernández followed by Contreras striking out on a foul tip.
The next inning, the Cubs also got some runs. Schwarber led off the inning with a groundout to Kelby Tomlinson, who replaced Pablo Sandoval at second base. Russell then grounded out to Crawford for the second out of the inning. Next up was Heyward, who tripled to deep right field. Then Tommy La Stella pinch hit for Rosario and he singled to left field, scoring Heyward and giving the Cubs a 7-3 lead. Then Almora came up, and launched a double to Hernández, scoring La Stella and giving the Cubs a 8-3 lead. Then Báez came up, and grounded out to Longoria for the third out.
For the win, the Cubs relied on Justin Hancock. He started by getting the innings leadoff man, Longoria, to groundout to Bryant for the first out. Then Crawford singled to Almora for his second hit of the game. Then Miguel Gómez pinch hit for right handed pitcher Cory Gearrin. He flew out to Heyward for the second out. Finally Williamson came up and lined out to Schwarber, giving the Cubs a 8-3 win.
Game Performances:
San Francisco Giants:
Hitting:
- Gorkys Hernández – 2-5, 2 SO, 2 1B
- Andrew McCutchen – 0-2, 3 BB, 1 SO
- Brandon Belt – 1-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 1B
- Evan Longoria – 1-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 1B
- Brandon Crawford – 2-5, 1 R, 1 SO, 2 1B
- Pablo Sandoval – 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 1B
- Mac Williamson – 1-4, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 1B
- Nick Hundley – 1-4, 1 SO, 1 1B
- Ty Blach – 0-0, 2 BB
- Kelby Tomlinson – 0-2
- Austin Jackson – 0-1
- Miguel Gómez – 0-1
Pitching:
- Ty Blach – Loss, 3 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 3 SO
- Pierce Johnson – 3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR
- Reyes Moronta – 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
- Cory Gearrin – 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
Chicago Cubs:
Hitting:
- Albert Almora Jr. – 3-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 2B, 1 1B
- Javier Báez – 2-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 1B
- Kris Bryant – 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 2B
- Anthony Rizzo – 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 1B
- Willson Contreras – 1-4, 1 BB, 3 SO, 1 3B
- Kyle Schwarber – 1-4, 1 BB, 2 SO, 1 1B
- Addison Russell – 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 RBI, 1 SO, 1 1B
- Jason Heyward – 1-4, 1 R, 1 SO, 1 3B
- Tyler Chatwood – 1-1, 1 1B
- Randy Rosario – 0-0, 1 R, 1 BB
- Tommy La Stella – 1-1, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 1B
- Brian Duensing – 0-1, 1 SO
Pitching:
- Tyler Chatwood – 2.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 3 SO
- Randy Rosario – Win, 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO
- Brian Duensing – 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO
- Carl Edwards Jr. – 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO
- Justin Hancock – 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
The MLB Enthusiast 