Posey’s walk-off single in 13th inning hands Giants series victory
SAN FRANCISCO — He won’t play in the All-Star Game because of an ailing right hip, but Buster Posey enjoyed his All-Star moment Wednesday.
In the bottom of the 13th inning, Posey reminded Giants fans why he’s so valuable as the catcher stepped up and drove a single off the right field wall to score Brandon Belt and send his club home as 5-4 winners.
Though Posey’s hip has prevented him from hitting for power this season, he still found enough strength to catch all 13 innings and deliver the game-winning hit 12 innings after the Giants scored their last run.
The Giants stepped in the gym to do a pull-up Wednesday, and after more than a week’s worth of trouble, they showcased one easy, impressive rep with a promising four-run first inning against the Cubs.
But when it came time to add on during the set, the Giants simply hung in the balance, slowly losing their grip on the bar.
Over the course of a nineinning game, the forces of gravity and the Chicago Cubs pulled them back down to the ground. But Posey’s heroics and three scoreless innings of relief from Dereck Rodriguez helped the Giants climb back on and climb up when they needed it most.
Though the Giants flexed first, the Cubs were the steadier, more controlled force during the middle of the contest as they hammered out three home runs including a gametying solo shot in the seventh from second baseman Javier Baez.
Baez’s blast ended a 19game scoreless streak for Tony Watson, who had only allowed one earned run since facing Chicago at Wrigley Field in May.
After dropping 11 of their last 16 games against lefthanded starters, Giants manager Bruce Bochy placed recently promoted infielder Chase d’Arnaud at the top of the team’s lineup Wednesday.
With Cubs lefty Mike Montgomery on the mound, d’Arnaud made his presence felt early with a leadoff home run over the left field fence. The solo shot was the first leadoff homer of d’Arnaud’s career, his first home run in a Giants uniform and the first
signal that the club’s fortunes against lefties might be changing.
Later in the inning, a two-out, opposite field double from Gorkys Hernandez pushed the Giants ahead 3-0 before rookie Steven Duggar collected his first career RBI with a bloop to center field.
A four-run first-inning against Montgomery marked the first time the Giants had scored more than two runs against a left-handed starter in their last eight tries, and it guaranteed the club would finish a game with more than three runs for just the second time since July 1.
The Giants had plenty of chances to build on their 4-0 edge, but instead, the Cubs chipped away with a pair of home runs that turned the game into a nerve-wracking affair for the home club.
Though starter Johnny Cueto left with a lead, it was the early trouble he encountered that allowed the Cubs to begin their comeback quest.
Like an officer whistling and waving cars through an intersection with a broken stoplight, Cueto operated in traffic throughout his five-inning stint against the Cubs. The right-hander allowed at least one baserunner in every inning he pitched and Chicago had a runner reach second base in all five innings.
Cueto wiggled his way out of trouble by missing bats, as he racked up seven strikeouts including three with runners in scoring position Wednesday.
Though the Giants’ medical staff did check on Cueto after he winced in pain following a fourth inning at-bat, he returned to the mound for his fifth and final inning and left the game in line for the win despite allowing a tworun home run to Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant in his last frame.
After carving through lineups with ease in the month of April, Cueto has yet to regain form since returning from the disabled list as he’s allowed 16 hits and eight earned runs in his first 10 innings. The Giants are hopeful the extended rest Cueto will receive from now through the All-Star break will benefit the health of his pitching elbow, but the team still plans to monitor his status closely throughout the second half.