Three games in San Francisco everything seemed to go wrong for the Cubs.
When they caught a few breaks in the ninth innings on Saturday, they couldn’t take advantage and dropped their third game in a row at the bay.
It’s like the tables have been turned for the Cubs. All of those things the Cubs did to win nine of their previous 10 games are now part of the Giants’ raffle roster. With pitcher Kevin Gausman limiting the Cubs to 2 hits through 7 innings, San Francisco pulled out a 4-3 win on Saturday.
“I don’t think we played terrible baseball,” said manager David Ross. “Today I thought your mug was damn good.”
On the third day in a row, the Cubs took an early lead thanks to a home run. This time it was Patrick Wisdom, who shot his fifth home run in 12 games since joining the team, giving the Cubs 2-0 lead in the second inning.
Otherwise, the Cubs’ thugs were baffled by Kevin Gausman’s Splitter. Gausman, 30, has been a journeyman starter with limited success for most of his career. But he improved to 7-0 that season with a 1.27 ERA.
“This is a difficult place to sit in,” said Wisdom. “I wouldn’t necessarily call it a sliver either. He can make it do different things. Sometimes it goes straight down like a sliver and sometimes it fades like a change. It’s a tough place to sit on.
“Fortunately, I hit a fastball that he left in the middle of the plate well. It’s difficult with a guy like that, you might see a good pitch to hit. Fortunately, I was able to put a barrel on it.”
Kohl Stewart made his second start with the Cubs but wasn’t as effective as on his debut. Holding on to a 2-1 lead, Cubs pitchers gave up leadoff walks in both the fourth and fifth innings and both runners scored a result.
When Ross turned to rescuer Tommy Nance to get out of the fourth inning, he might have made it a blow too late, as the last hit Stewart faced was Lamonte Wade Jr., who kicked off the finish line.
“They put tough ABs together,” said Stewart. “They bring the ball into play and put pressure on you on the grassroots. I just didn’t have a heat command today and couldn’t get a feel for my sinker. I fell behind a lot in the end and the guys made me pay for it.”
After 4-2 in the ninth inning, the Cubs eventually got a series of breaks. Rafael Ortega took out and made a mistake. Then Kris Bryant missed a perfect double play ball, but second baseman Mauricio Dubon dropped the ball on the transfer and Bryant was initially safe.
After a Javy Baez single, Anthony Rizzo hit another double play ball short and this time the left side of the Giants infield, Brandon Crawford and Evan Longoria collided. Longoria had to leave the game, Bryant scored and the Cubs had two runners on base.
Willson Contreras faced the San Francisco submarine pitcher Tyler Rodgers and hit a 3-2, 71 mph slider. Then Jason Heyward rose to end the game.
“It’s definitely hard to lose three in a row,” said Wisdom. “Losing is no fun, whether it’s one or three. I think this team is good at flushing it. Understand what happened, where we made mistakes, what we need to do better and how we did the next day go ahead and the negativity, I think we can flip the switch. “
Cory Abbott made his major league debut, putting on two goalless innings.
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