|
 But the Chicago Cubs right-hander said he understood the rationale
of manager Joe Maddon who didn't want a 5-2 lead to slip away.
"I felt like I had earned the right to get out of that situation,"
said Hammel, who worked four-plus innings and had no decision. "As a
competitor I want to be out there and clean up my own mess.
"But I was able to talk with Joe, turn the page and the bottom line
is we won the ballgame."
Right-handed deliver Justin Grimm (2-3) shut down that threat with a
perfect fifth and the Cubs (59-48) held on for a 5-4 victory.
They also leapfrogged over the Giants (59-49) into the second wild
card spot after the opener of a four-game series.
"(Hammel) had really good physical stuff from where I was sitting
but the command was off a little with the fastball," said Maddon. "I
did not want to let them back into that game right there. ... I knew
the bullpen was rested, I knew we had the guys to do it."
Rookie catcher Kyle Schwarber's first career Wrigley Field home run
helped lift the Cubs to an early lead on the way to the victory.
"I knew (Giants starter Chris Heston) had some good sink on his ball
and I was just trying to get a pitch I could drive," said Schwarber,
who went 1-for-3, walked, scored twice and collected three RBIs. "I
got myself into a decent count and put a good swing on it and it
went."
Grimm (2-3) worked the perfect fifth inning to earn the victory.
Chicago led 5-0 after two innings, but two-run homers by San
Francisco first baseman Brandon Belt and shortstop Brandon Crawford
sliced the margin to one. However, the Cubs' bullpen blanked San
Francisco over the final three innings.
Heston (11-6) took the loss after a four-inning outing.
Right-hander Hector Rondon, the sixth Cubs pitcher, pitched a
perfect ninth inning for his 17th save.
The Giants trimmed a three-run deficit to 5-4 with two outs in the
sixth on Crawford's two-run homer to left off right-hander Tommy
Hunter, making his second Cubs appearance.
Crawford's 19th home run of the season also drove in right fielder
Hunter Pence.
Right fielder Jorge Soler gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead with a
first-inning, two-out single to left. Soler's hit -- on a 3-1 Heston
pitch -- drove in Schwarber and first baseman Anthony Rizzo.
Schwarber made it 5-0 in the second with his first career Wrigley
Field homer, a one-out shot to right-center on a 1-0 pitch off
Heston that also brought home Hammel and second baseman Addison
Russell.
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"(Heston has) had a couple starts like this -- he's bounced back,"
said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. "He's a tough kid. That first
inning is so critical and you try to get settled in, but we could
tell he was out of sync there and sometimes, it's hard to find it.
When he walked a couple of guys there and hit a batter that set up
the first rally, that's unlike him."
Schwarber has six home runs and 18 RBIs in 25 games since coming up
June 16 for the first of two stints with the Cubs.
The Giants trimmed the lead to 5-2 with Belt's 14th homer of the
year in the fourth. Belt's two-out blast came on a 2-2 pitch and
brought home Pence.
Hammel allowed two runs on three hits, walked two and struck out
four in his four-plus-inning outing.
Heston gave up five runs on five hits, walked two and struck out one
in four innings.
"I actually felt really good in the bullpen," Heston said. "Just the
first couple of innings I just had trouble finding the strike zone
with both the breaking ball and the fastball. Saw a lot of hitter's
counts and that's going to make it tough on anybody."
NOTES: San Francisco RHP Mike Leake (9-6, 3.52 ERA) will miss
Friday's scheduled start with a hamstring strain. RHP Ryan Vogelsong
(7-7, 4.16 ERA), who was shifted to the bullpen in mid-July, will
start in Leake's place and face Cubs LHP Jon Lester (6-8, 3.26 ERA).
... Thursday's game against the Cubs opened a stretch during which
the Giants face nothing but teams with winning records until they
visit Colorado on Sept. 3. The next 26 games (eight series) are
against playoff-caliber teams. ... San Francisco came into the
series leading the majors with a .295 average with batters in
scoring position (.436 in their past seven games though Wednesday).
... Giants C Buster Posey was out of the starting lineup. He began
the day second in the National League with a .332 average. ...
Chicago 3B Kris Bryant has 61 RBIs, tops among NL rookies. Giants 3B
Matt Duffy is second with 51.
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