Wood’s bat, arm fuel Chicago’s win
Reliever’s historic home run helps pave way for 2-0 series lead
CHICAGO — Travis Wood took over when starter Kyle Hendricks got hurt and became the first relief pitcher since 1924 to hit a postseason home run, helping the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants 5-2 Saturday night for 2-0 NL Division Series lead.
Ben Zobrist put Chicago ahead in the first with a run-scoring single off former Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija, and Hendricks hit a two-run single in a three-run second.
Hendricks left with a 4-2 lead in the fourth when he was hit on the right forearm by Angel Pagan’s line drive.
Wood struck out Conor Gillaspie to strand Pagan, then sent a one-out offering from George Kontos halfway up the left-field bleachers in the bottom half. The only other reliever to homer in the postseason was the New York Giants’ Rosy Ryan in Game 3 of the 1924 World Series.
Given a curtain call by a screaming crowd of 42,392, Wood joined Rick Sutcliffe (1984) and Kerry Wood (2003) as the only Cubs pitchers to go deep in the postseason. Travis Wood has hit nine regular-season homers in his big league career.
Wood pitched a hitless fifth and was credited with the win. Four more relievers completed Chicago’s second straight six-hitter, with Aroldis Chapman throwing 12 of 16 pitches at 100 mph and up for his sec- ond consecutive save.
Hendricks, the major league ERA leader, gave up two runs and four hits in 32⁄ innings.
“We picked him up tonight, having his injury and stuff, and that’s what we have done all year long,” Wood said. “We pull on each other and end up backing each other up.”
Madison Bumgarner, coming off a four-hit shutout of the New York Mets in the NL wild-card game, tries to save the Giants’ season when the series resumes Monday in San Francisco. Bumgarner has pitched 23 consecutive scoreless innings in winner-take-all games — all on the road — and is 8-3 with a 1.94 ERA in 13 postseason starts and 15 appearances.
“You know you never want to get down 0-2, but at this point, we just have to win three in a row,” Giants second baseman Joe Panik said. “We’ve done it before and just got to do it again.”
The Cubs, who start reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta, are one win from advancing to an NL Championship Series matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers or Washington Nationals. Arrieta won 18 games during the regular season but had a 4.60 ERA in five starts last month.
Samardzija’s first career playoff start was a short one. The righthander, who spent his first 6½ seasons with the Cubs, was pinch hit for in the third after allowing four runs.
“Just can’t put your team in that much of a hole early in the game, especially against a good staff like they have over there,” Samardzija said. “Like to have that one back, for sure, that one’s on me.”