One out from victory, Giants instead falter in extra-inning loss to Cubs
CHICAGO - Momentum is a tough beast to figure in baseball, even for a team such as the San Francisco Giants coming off two high-scoring, heavy-hitting games.
Saturday at Wrigley Field, the team that had 19 hits the day before stayed off the bases for the most part until the Jung Hoo Lee-Bryce Eldridge connection went to work in the ninth, setting up a sacrifice fly for Matt Chapman that put the Giants up a run. But they couldn't shake the Cubs, or to be more specific, Pete Crow-Armstrong, who with Chicago down to its final out, smacked his second homer of the day, this time off Keaton Winn. And when the game went to extra innings, the Giants were without top home-run hitter Casey Schmitt, because manager Tony Vitello pinch-ran for his designated hitter, Eldridge, in the ninth and opted for a more experienced outfielder to remain in the game.
Cubs 3, Giants 2 (10)
San Francisco
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Totals
34
2
5
2
3
11
Schmitt lf
4
0
0
0
0
0
.288
Winn p-p
0
0
0
0
0
0
---
d-Kennedy ph
0
0
0
0
1
0
.000
Hentges p
0
0
0
0
0
0
---
Devers 1b
4
1
1
1
1
1
.243
Arraez 2b
5
0
1
0
0
1
.324
Adames ss
4
0
0
0
0
2
.246
Lee rf-cf
4
1
2
0
0
0
.324
Eldridge dh
4
0
1
0
0
2
.291
2-Cox pr-cf-lf
0
0
0
0
0
0
.444
Chapman 3b
1
0
0
1
1
1
.239
Haase c
4
0
0
0
0
1
.250
Gilbert cf-lf
3
0
0
0
0
2
.234
c-Bericoto ph-rf
1
0
0
0
0
1
.200
Chicago
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Totals
34
3
8
2
4
8
Crow-Armstrong cf
5
2
4
2
0
0
.259
Conforto dh
2
0
0
0
1
1
.253
a-Amaya ph
0
0
0
0
0
0
.222
1-Alcantara pr-dh
0
0
0
0
0
0
.111
b-Ballesteros ph-dh
1
0
0
0
0
1
.235
3-Swanson pr
0
1
0
0
0
0
.180
Busch 1b
4
0
2
0
1
2
.247
Bregman 3b
3
0
0
0
1
2
.248
Happ lf
3
0
0
0
1
1
.231
Suzuki rf
4
0
1
0
0
0
.247
Hoerner ss
4
0
0
0
0
0
.246
Ramirez 2b
4
0
1
0
0
1
.250
Kelly c
4
0
0
0
0
0
.281
San Francisco
000
001
001
0_2
5
1
Chicago
000
001
001
1_3
8
0
No outs when winning run scored.
a-hit by pitch for Conforto in the 7th. b-struck out for Alcantara in the 9th. c-struck out for Gilbert in the 10th. d-walked for Winn in the 10th.
1-ran for Amaya in the 7th. 2-ran for Eldridge in the 9th. 3-ran for Ballesteros in the 10th.
E: Bericoto (1). LOB: San Francisco 8, Chicago 10. HR: Devers (8), off Thielbar; Crow-Armstrong (10), off Roupp; Crow-Armstrong (11), off Winn. RBIs: Devers (32), Chapman (32), Crow-Armstrong 2 (32). SB: Conforto (1), Lee (1), Cox (1). SF: Chapman.
Runners left in scoring position: San Francisco 3 (Gilbert, Haase, Arraez); Chicago 5 (Hoerner 2, Bregman 2, Happ). RISP: San Francisco 0 for 6; Chicago 3 for 8.
GIDP: Conforto.
DP: San Francisco 1 (Adames, Devers).
San Francisco
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
Roupp
5
2-3
3
1
1
3
5
98
4.00
Kilian
1
1
0
0
1
1
17
3.45
Miller
2-3
2
0
0
0
1
22
3.93
Winn, BS, 1-2
1
2-3
1
1
1
0
1
22
2.48
Hentges, L, 1-1
0
1
1
0
0
0
5
2.08
Chicago
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
Brown
5
1-3
1
0
0
1
5
87
1.74
Thielbar
2-3
1
1
1
0
2
11
4.20
J.Webb
2
1
0
0
1
1
32
2.28
Palencia
1
2
1
1
0
1
19
2.45
Rolison, W, 5-1
1
0
0
0
1
2
21
2.49
Inherited runners-scored: Kilian 1-0. HBP: Brown (Chapman), Miller (Amaya). PB: Haase (1).
ABS Challenge: Roupp (Ball-Confirmed); Brown (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Hoerner (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Thielbar (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Hentges (Ball-Overturned to Strike).
Umpires: Home, Willie Traynor; First, Andy Fletcher; Second, Cory Blaser; Third, Alex Tosi.
T: 3:03. A: 39,248 (41,363).
Another move backfired when the Cubs won it in the 10th: with the placed runner at second base, Michael Busch ripped a single off lefty Sam Hentges, and Victor Bericoto, in right after pinch hitting for Drew Gilbert, overran the ball. Dansby Swanson, who'd been held at third until that aggressive mistake, trotted in to give Chicago a 3-2 victory. It's the sixth time the Giants have been walked off this season; they have one walk-off win of their own.
In the top of the ninth, Lee had knocked a ball to right and Eldridge ripped a ball down the right-field line to put men at the corners and extend his on-base streak to 13 games. Rookie Jonah Cox ran for Eldridge and blazed his way to a steal of second, eliminating the double-play possibility for Chapman plus bringing the infield in, and the Giants third baseman, who had driven in eight runs the previous day, whistled a flyball to center to send Lee home.
"It worked out well with Cox getting in the game. He did a great job, just (getting the) green light, not straight steal, keeping us out of a double-play situation," Vitello said, adding later, "At home, I think it might be a little bit different. But the spot we want to be in is to finish that ninth inning and we'd be thinking about it a lot differently if a flare falls in or there's a base hit to left and you've got to throw a guy out at the plate."
That decision, though, cost the Giants their DH and, as a result, Schmitt, with Vitello putting Winn in Schmitt's spot in the order and sending Cox, an excellent defender, to left. Buddy Kennedy hit for Winn and walked in the 10th, but it's tough to imagine that Schmitt, who has 15 homers and drilled two the day before, wouldn't be the better option in extra innings. The team did not score in the 10th.
"Schmitt, I don't think can be labeled just an infielder anymore, he's spent plenty of time out there," Vitello said of Schmitt's 16 games in left. "But obviously with the lead, we want our best defense out there in the outfield."
The two starters, Landen Roupp and Cubs right-hander Ben Brown, were tough on a day in which the wind mostly blew in. San Francisco didn't score against Brown, but when a lefty, Caleb Thielbar, came in to face lefty slugger Rafael Devers, Devers demolished a fastball, putting it well up the bleachers in right center. Devers, who wasn't part of the Giants' seven-homer day Friday, is 5-for-8 against Thielbar.
Chicago almost immediately followed suit. Crow-Armstrong led off the sixth with a homer off Roupp that went out to the same part of the park. Devers' homer traveled 387 feet, Crow-Armstrong's 386.
Roupp walked the next batter, former Giants outfielder Michael Conforto, and Vitello decided to go to right-hander Caleb Kilian, who struck out the first two men he faced before things got a little hairy. Ian Happ walked, Seiya Suzuki reached on an infield single - shortstop Willy Adames might have saved a run by keeping the ball from getting to the outfield - and with the bases loaded, Kilian got Nico Hoerner to fly out.
It was Erik Miller's turn to squirm out of trouble in the seventh. The left-hander came in with two outs to face Crow-Armstrong, who singled and went to second on a passed ball by Eric Haase. Miller hit right-handed pinch-hitter Miguel Amaya before Busch, a lefty hitter, hit a check-swing infield single to load the bases. Miller then had to face Alex Bregman, a right-hander, not ideal. He struck him out with a slider.
Lee's seventh-inning single gave him 14 games in a row with a hit, and he's batting .595 in nine games since coming off the injured list, something he credited to spending a lot of time standing in just watching pitches from the Trajekt machine while he was out of action for eight games with a back issue. He also stole his first base of the season. "I hope this is a start, for sure," he said with Justin Han interpreting.
His 27 hits are the most in a 14-game stretch since Buster Posey recorded 27 from Aug. 27-Sept 12, 2014.
Roupp was coming off a start at Milwaukee in which he gave up a career-high eight runs and also had some lower back discomfort. The back was not an issue Saturday and he worked 5⅔ innings and allowed three hits, though he was mad at himself for allowing three walks, plus the 0-2 sinker to Crow-Armstrong.
"I've got to cut down on the walks," he said. "That first inning, back-to-back walks isn't going to cut it. But overall, I made a lot of good pitches and really one mistake all day, the fastball to PCA. I think today was a step in the right direction for me."
The defense, as per usual in a low-scoring game, was mostly outstanding for both clubs. The Giants got great plays in particular from second baseman Luis Arraez in the second - he went to his right for a bouncer by Hoerner, slid, spun and threw to first to get the quick runner. In the fifth, Chapman went behind the bag at third, deep into foul ground, for a ball that had crossed the bag in fair territory. He corralled the baseball and fired a long throw to first to end the inning.
Coming off the 18-3 romp the day before, the Giants had some fun before the game. Chicago always has been a spot that teams have their rookies do various group activities - a popular one before involved a statue of a horse, spray paint and a fake police bust in the clubhouse the next day, but in recent years, that's been simplified to errands in uniform. So a large group of players, plus first-year manager Vitello and coach Christian Wonders, got a drink order for essentially the entire rest of the team.
The crowded area around Wrigley and the coffee chain took note of the batch of Giants players and started snapping photos.
"It was awesome, I felt like I was Justin Bieber," Eldridge said. "Maybe they didn't recognize me, but they saw my name on my back. The whole entire street was filming us. I was trying to film some of them back. I got some videos."
Gilbert was in charge of the actual orders - about 20 of them, many of which were complex. For someone known for his energy and hijinks, Gilbert might have been an unusual choice, but he did well and was completely unbothered by venturing into the real world in full uni.
"It was right around the corner, it wasn't as crazy as you'd think." Gilbert said. "Everyone was looking at us, but they understood what it was pretty quickly."
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This story was originally published June 6, 2026 at 7:09 PM.