SAN FRANCISCO -- Stretching a brief hot streak into the weekend -- a run of wins that felt more like the baseball displayed early in the season -- was important for the Cubs. There was no guarantee it was going to keep going with Giants ace Logan Webb on the hill on Sunday afternoon.
Webb indeed did his thing, quieting the North Siders for eight innings to send the Cubs home with a 5-1 loss to wrap up this six-game swing through Denver and San Francisco. That put a period on Chicago’s modest three-game winning streak -- a run that was notable for a few reasons.
“We won a series for the first time in a while,” Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman noted. “Hopefully, we go home and build off that.”
The Cubs had not won three in a row since winning 10 straight between April and May. And as Bregman noted, by taking two out of three against the Giants, Chicago also ended a run of 10 consecutive series lost or split. So, while things could have gone better on this road trip, the 3-3 showing felt like some upward momentum given the monthlong issues that preceded it.
The three victories included 20 runs scored -- powered by seven home runs. That kind of slug can help mask troubles with situational hitting. Take Saturday, for example. Chicago went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position, but launched three solo homers in the 6-1 win. The three losses included an 0-for-18 showing with RISP combined.
“The guys feel it,” Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly said. “As much as we don't want to acknowledge it, you feel it, for sure. You don’t want to give it too much air for the fire, but it is a real thing. And those are your opportunities to score. And when you're not scoring runs, and you get runners in scoring position, everybody kind of feels it a little bit more. We’ve had some better at-bats the last couple days.”
On the pitching front in the series, Javier Assad stepped up again with Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd on the injured list. Shota Imanaga and Edward Cabrera had solid bounceback performances. Ben Brown (1.74 ERA) kept his foot on the gas. And overall, the bullpen was solid enough. Really, veteran righty Colin Rea (11 runs allowed in 9 1/3 innings between two games) was the only arm searching for a return to form.
“For the most part, we pitched really well – besides me,” Rea acknowledged. “The two [outings] that I had on the road weren’t very good. But there were definitely a lot of good things from the pitching side and offensively [on this trip].”
In the finale against the Giants, Cubs manager Craig Counsell went with lefty Ryan Rolison as an opener to minimize Rea’s exposure to San Francisco’s lefty bats. The plan worked through four innings, but the Giants broke through for three runs and sent nine batters to the plate against Rea in the fifth.
A pair of fluky hits -- including a double from Drew Gilbert that dropped just fair up the left-field line and out of the reach of outfielder Ian Happ -- got the Giants on the board. Matt Chapman then belted a 2-2 fastball from Rea out to straightaway center to put the Cubs in a 3-0 hole. The Cubs’ righty ended with four runs allowed in his 4 2/3 innings.
“We need a little better, honestly,” Counsell said. “When you’re going up against this type of pitcher [in Webb], you’ve got not a lot of room for error. He settled in pretty nicely and then he just kind of got stuck in the fifth.”
The Cubs were blanked for the first seven innings by Webb, who finally yielded one unearned run in the eighth. Dansby Swanson reached via a single that struck second base, and then scored from first – with the help of a throwing error by Giants first baseman Casey Schmitt -- on a single to shallow right by Bregman.
After Bregman’s flared hit, the Cubs had a chance to further mount a comeback when Michael Busch pulled a Webb offering to deep right field. Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee raced into the corner and made a leaping catch to rob Busch of the hit, ending the inning. That closed the book on Webb, who struck out seven and issued no walks.
“We didn’t really drive anything today. But, overall, it was a good series,” Bregman said. “I thought we played better the last few games. We’ve just got to click and play good baseball, and do it consistently.”