Crow-Armstrong’s Two Homers Lift Cubs Over Giants in 10 Innings

CHICAGO (Interstat) — Pete Crow-Armstrong homered twice, including a game-tying solo shot in the ninth inning, and the Chicago Cubs rallied past the San Francisco Giants 3-2 in 10 innings Saturday at Wrigley Field.

Crow-Armstrong finished 4 for 5 with two home runs and two RBIs, providing the spark for a Cubs team that trailed for most of the afternoon. His second homer of the game, a leadoff blast in the bottom of the ninth off Giants reliever Sam Hentges, erased a 2-1 deficit and forced extra innings. Then in the bottom of the 10th, Michael Busch delivered a walk-off single that scored Dansby Swanson after a fielding error by right fielder Victor Bericoto, giving Chicago its 34th win of the season.

The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the Cubs, who dropped the series opener 18-3 the previous night. Chicago improved to 34-31, while the Giants fell to 26-39.

The game remained scoreless through the first five innings as both starting pitchers worked effectively. Giants starter Landen Roupp allowed only three hits and struck out four over six innings, but he left with a no-decision after Crow-Armstrong tied the game in the bottom of the sixth.

San Francisco opened the scoring in the top of the sixth when third baseman Rafael Devers crushed an 0-1 pitch to right-center field for his eighth home run of the season. The solo shot gave the Giants a 1-0 lead and snapped a 14-inning scoreless drought for San Francisco, which had been shut out in its previous two games against the Cubs and Milwaukee.

The Cubs answered immediately in the bottom half. Crow-Armstrong led off with a solo homer to right field, his 10th of the year, knotting the score at 1-1. Chicago loaded the bases later in the inning on a walk to Michael Conforto and singles from Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki, but Roupp escaped further damage by getting Nico Hoerner to fly out to right.

After both sides failed to score in the seventh and eighth, the game moved to the ninth tied 1-1.

San Francisco regained the lead in the top of the ninth against Cubs reliever Caleb Thielbar. Jung Hoo Lee singled to left with one out and advanced to third on a single by Bryce Eldridge. Matt Chapman then lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Lee and giving the Giants a 2-1 advantage.

Hentges took the mound in the bottom of the ninth seeking his first save of the season. He retired Pedro Ramirez on a groundout and got Carson Kelly to line out to shortstop. But Crow-Armstrong stepped in and launched a 1-0 pitch over the right-field wall for his 11th homer, tying the game at 2-2. Moises Ballesteros then struck out to send the game to extra innings.

In the top of the 10th, Cubs reliever Ryan Rolison worked a clean inning, striking out Victor Bericoto and Rafael Devers and inducing a forceout from Luis Arraez. Rolison earned the victory, improving to 5-1 on the season.

The bottom of the 10th began with Swanson on second base as the automatic runner. Busch stepped in against Hentges and grounded a single to right field. Bericoto charged the ball but mishandled it, allowing Swanson to score the winning run and handing Hentges his first loss of the season.

Crow-Armstrong’s heroics highlighted an otherwise quiet day for the Chicago offense. Michael Busch recorded two hits, including the game-winner, and Pedro Ramirez added one. The Cubs finished with eight hits total.

The Giants managed only five hits. Devers homered, Jung Hoo Lee singled twice, and Bryce Eldridge had a single. San Francisco went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and struck out 11 times.

Attendance was announced at 39,248, and the game lasted 3 hours, 3 minutes.

The loss capped a difficult road trip for the Giants, who had lost six of their previous seven games before Friday’s rout. San Francisco has been outscored 72-39 over its last 10 contests.

Chicago, meanwhile, has struggled to find consistency but earned a split of the first two games of this series. The Cubs have now won five of their last eight at home.

The two teams conclude their three-game series Sunday at Wrigley Field before the Cubs travel to Colorado and the Giants return home to face Washington.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Chicago Cubs 4, San Francisco Giants 3. The Cubs entered the game as a -1.5 favorite on the spread with a 59.40 percent win probability according to the Interstat ELO system. The combined total of 5 runs went over the over-under line of 8.5.