*Photo from AP News*
Needing a jolt, the San Francisco Giants rode with the pitching. Alex Wood nearly threw a no hitter, Thairo Estrada drove in a run, and the Giants defeated the Chicago Cubs with a 4-2 victory on Thursday night in San Francisco.
After being swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks during the week, the Giants entered their series against the Cubs this weekend needing to blow off steam. That they did, picking up only their 3rd win in the last 10 games, but it was a necessary win, trying to get back to .500 and creep up in the wild card race, sitting 3 games back of the final wild card spot.
Wood said of the win that "You could see it in guys’ eyes and their faces after the game. Just get one and start building from there. I can’t remember a game, even when we were going good, where we did all three. Hopefully that’s a sign of things to come."
With the bases loaded in the 3rd inning, Yermin Mercedes came up big for the Giants, singling into center field to score Mike Yastrzemski and Austin Slater to make it a 2-0 lead. Wilmer Flores then scored on an RBI single from Estrada, putting the Giants ahead by a 3-0 score a third of the way through.
In the 4th inning, the Giants kept building their lead, with Slater doubling into right field. That scored David Villar to make it a 4-0 Giants lead. In the 7th, Patrick Wisdom got the Cubs on the board with a two run home run to left field, making it a 4-2 game, which held for the remainder of the game.
Slater talked about the two run single from Mercedes, saying after the game that "It's in the conversation. Over the last seven games it felt like we’ve been playing from behind. So for him to step up and give us the lead early, it’s not like it let us relax and let off the gas, but it kind of signaled that, hey, things can change."
Wood got the start for the Giants, carrying a no hitter into the 7th inning, getting the win with a final line of two runs on two hits in 6 2/3 innings. Dominic Leone came on and finished the 7th for Wood, followed by appearances from John Brebbia and Camilo Doval, with Doval getting the save.
Getting the start for the Cubs was Justin Steele, who got hit to the tune of 4 runs on 5 hits in 3 2/3 innings of work, striking out 6 hitters. Erich Uelmen came on in relief, pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings, before Brandon Hughes and Chris Martin got shutout appearances.
Cubs manager David Ross said of Steele's start that "One of those outings he had to work hard in some moments but we didn’t play well behind him. Starting pitching and defense go together, so you get usually good outings when the defense plays well behind you. We didn’t today. Made some mistakes that cost us a lot of runs."
Up next, the Giants and Cubs continue their weekend series on Friday night. Alex Wood starts for the Giants, while Marcus Stroman gets the start for the Cubs.
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