It wasn’t a breeze, but it’s a win
CHICAGO — To a man, the Giants could have shouted, “Different year, different situation” often enough to snap their vocal cords. They could have denied flashbacks to their final inning of 2016, when the Cubs pummeled an ineffective San Francisco bullpen for four runs to cement their Division Series win.
They all would be lying. Joe Panik did not bother trying after the Giants doused another late Chicago fire and beat the Cubs 6-4 Monday night, their second win in their past 11 games at Wrigley Field, playoffs included.
“You’re human,” Panik said after hitting a homer and two doubles on his best offensive night of his season. “But I think the bullpen we’ve got had the confidence to shut them down. It was a little different scenario this year, but in the back of your mind, something might creep in.”
The Giants spent 7½ innings building a 6-0 lead behind Ty Blach, whose performance was revelatory on a
night the wind was blowing out so fiercely, manager Bruce Bochy told himself during batting practice, “Oh my goodness. This is going to be a high-scoring game.”
The Cubs, demonstrating the pedigree of a World Series champion, needed just four hitters in the eighth inning to close the gap to 6-4. They then got Willson Contreras to the plate with one out as the potential go-ahead run.
But on this night, Hunter Strickland got Contreras to hit a 97 mph fastball on the ground to shortstop Brandon Crawford, who started an inning-ending double play.
Mark Melancon, the closer the Giants lacked that October night at AT&T Park, allowed a single in the ninth but struck out Ian Happ to complete his ninth save.
“It’s awesome,” Strickland said. “That’s what we’re here for. I love being in that position. I’m thankful for the opportunity and that it turned out the way it did.”
The Giants had one of their most potent offensive nights of 2017, setting season highs with three homers (Panik, Brandon Belt, Justin Ruggiano) and seven extra-base hits. Yup, all three homers were solos, running their streak to 18, three short of their own big-league record.
Panik batted leadoff in place of Denard Span, who has a sprained thumb, and homered off John Lackey to start the game, an oppositefield blow. He smiled when asked if that ball would have been out without the wind blowing toward Lake Michigan.
“It probably wouldn’t have worked at AT&T Park,” said Panik, who had more hits in his first three at-bats than he mustered in his previous 22.
Despite all that offense, Blach stole the show. He took a five-hit shutout into the eighth on fewer than 100 pitches, despite needing 13 to retire his first hitter, Ben Zobrist, on a called third strike.
Blach said that encounter locked him in. He stayed locked in until Javier Baez’s two-run homer in the eighth and the Happ triple that followed. Derek Law allowed a two-run Zobrist homer that made it 6-4.
The Cubs did not frighten Blach. Nor did the wind.
“It reminded me a lot” of the Pacific Coast League, he said. “I had the same mindset that I had in a lot of games last year. I tried to execute pitches early, be aggressive, dictate the game and let them hit the ball on the ground.”
Blach had a lot of defensive help, particularly from Panik and Crawford. Blach helped himself by remembering his spring training pitcher fielding practice.
Leading 5-0 in the sixth, Blach allowed a bloop hit to right by Albert Almora Jr. Almora thought he could leg it into a double, but Blach snuck behind him at first base. Ruggiano threw the ball to Blach, who fired his best strike of the night to Crawford for an out Almora simply had no business making.