© Kamil Krzaczynski | 2021 Sep 10
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Brandon Crawford ranged to his left, stabbed a Patrick Wisdom missile up the middle and flipped the ball backhanded to Tommy La Stella at second in one motion. Wisdom’s 108.2 mph exit velocity was the hardest hit ball of the afternoon, but Crawford’s magic — as well as La Stella’s barehanded transfer — turned it into a double play.
The Giants, after struggling against starter Kyle Hendricks, had just jumped on the Cubs’ bullpen for four runs in the seventh inning. Behind two-run homers from Brandon Belt and Evan Longoria, the Giants (91-50) pulled away from Chicago for a 6-1 win — matching their season-high with five straight victories.
The day started with a video tribute for Kris Bryant, who returned to Wrigley Field for the first time since getting traded to the Giants at the trade deadline. During the video, the former Cub pulled his sunglasses away from his face to wipe tears away. His family handed out cookies to Wrigley Field workers. He tipped his cap to the fans.
Bryant received a standing ovation from the Wrigley faithful in his first plate appearance, but struck out. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, a walk and a run in the game. But his troubles against starter Kyle Hendricks weren’t unique to the Giants lineup.
https://twitter.com/KNBR/status/1436433649570770944
Through four innings, the only Giants hit was LaMonte Wade Jr.’s infield single off the end of the bat. In the fifth, Zack Littell recorded his first MLB hit down the first base line. But otherwise, Hendricks kept SF’s lineup off balance with a steady diet of sinkers and changeups.
In the top of the sixth inning, Hendricks hovered around 100 pitches with the Cubs up 1-0 via a Frank Schwindel solo home run. Belt roped the first extra base hit off Hendricks down the right field line on the seventh pitch of his at-bat. Belt, wearing a duct tape C on the left pec of his jersey, previously walked the first two times he saw Hendricks; he was seemingly the only Giants hitter who could time up Hendricks.
Belt scored on Wade Jr.’s bloop single into shallow right field, but the inning ended prematurely after he tried to stretch it into second and Bryant grounded out softly up the middle. Still, the Giants tied it up, 1-1.
Then Evan Longoria gave the Giants their first lead of the game with his first home run since Aug. 17. He crushed a Trevor Megill fastball 105.4 mph off the bat into the back row of the left field bleachers. Longoria’s two-run shot, his 11th of the season, traveled 421 feet.
https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1436409858207666176?s
Megill failed to record an out in the seventh inning, turning Hendricks’ brilliant start into an afterthought. Michael Rucker relieved him, and Belt tagged him for an opposite-field, wall-scraping homer to add two more runs to SF’s lead.
The Giants’ bullpen, meanwhile, completed another excellent committee performance. Entering Friday, San Francisco had the best bullpen ERA (2.66) in MLB since the All-Star Break. Without starters Johnny Cueto (hamstring) and Alex Wood (COVID-19), the Giants have now played three bullpen games in the last week. In those contests, SF has allowed just six earned runs and are 2-1 with the patchwork approach.
SF got especially solid performances from Dominic Leone (2IP, 0H, 2K) and José Álvarez (1.2IP, 0H, 2K) before handing the game to Tyler Rogers, Tony Watson and Jay Jackson late for scoreless appearances.
Longoria added to SF’s lead with a sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth, scoring Bryant from third. Bryant slapped hands with his Giants teammates in the dugouts. He’s repeatedly praised the winning culture, coaching staff and city of San Francisco since arriving at the trade deadline. He grew up idolizing Barry Bonds and sported Longoria’s cleats and glove in college.
It was a fitting way to cap Bryant’s emotional return to Wrigley. If San Francisco has felt like a perfect match for Bryant, that’s because, so far, it has been. After 6.5 years in Chicago, he thanked the Cubs with a win and by crossing home for a team that has as good a chance as any to make an October run.
