Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, Michael Busch led off the 10th with a walk-off single that was misplayed in right field and the Chicago Cubs avenged an 18-3 shellacking a day earlier with a 3-2 victory over the visiting San Francisco Giants on Saturday afternoon.
After both teams scored in the ninth, capped by Crow-Armstrong’s second solo homer of the day, Cubs reliever Ryan Rolison (5-1) stranded the Giants’ automatic runner at second base in the top of the 10th by striking out both Victor Bericoto and Rafael Devers and getting Luis Arraez out on a grounder, setting up Busch’s heroics.
The game-winning hit, a hard grounder through the right side of the infield, scored automatic runner Dansby Swanson, who coasted home when Bericoto, the Giants’ right fielder, overran the hit in his haste to make a throw to the plate. He was charged with an error.
Sam Hentges (1-1), who faced just one batter, took the loss.
The Giants had taken a 2-1 lead in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Matt Chapman, scoring Jung Hoo Lee. Crow-Armstrong then belted his 11th homer of the season — a game-saving, two-out shot off Keaton Winn in the bottom of the inning.
After solo home runs by Devers and Crow-Armstrong had offset each other in the game’s only scoring for eight innings, neither starting pitcher was rewarded for an outstanding effort.
The Cubs’ Ben Brown was pulled after 5 1/3 scoreless innings, having limited the Giants to one hit. He walked one and struck out five.
Four pitches later, Devers smacked his eighth home run off Cubs reliever Caleb Thielbar for the game’s first run.
Giants starter Landen Roupp took the 1-0 into the last of the sixth, but it lasted just three pitches. That’s when Pete Crow-Armstrong tied the game with the first of his two homers.
Roupp was replaced three batters later, having allowed just the one run and three hits. He walked three and struck out five.
Crow-Armstrong added two singles to his two homers on a 4-for-5 day for the Cubs, who had lost four of their previous five games. Busch’s game-ending hit was his second of the contest.
Lee had two singles for the Giants, who scored 16 fewer runs and had 14 fewer hits than in their 19-hit, 18-3 win in the series opener.
–Field Level Media
