The Cubs welcomed Kris Bryant to Wrigley Field this weekend, and although Bryant didn’t necessarily have huge games, himself, his team did what they needed to do to say in first place in the NL West. How nice for the Giants.
There was a sneaky good bit of fun in this one, as the Cubs kept battling back, chipping away as they could. But the pivotal point came in the 7th when the Cubs, having already cut the lead to just one, loaded the bases with just one out in the 7th. But Tyler Rogers struck out Willson Contreras and Alfonso Rivas to end the threat. The strikeout to Contreras was all kinds of suspect – it was a 3-2 pitch that never entered the zone in its entire trajectory. Should’ve been a pretty clear walk to tie the game. Alas.
The Cubs also had a chance to tie it in the 9th after a one-out Patrick Wisdom double (nice to see him come off the bench with a hit, given his struggles). But back-to-back bouncers to first base from Frank Schwindel and Ian Happ ended it.
Justin Steele had a mixed outing, with more to discuss on that tomorrow. It wasn’t quite as bad as his line shows, but it also was an outing that showed what a really well-disciplined lineup of line-drive hitters can do. Rowan Wick was PHENOMENAL again today, by the way.
Farewell, Kris Bryant …