Giants 5, Cubs 2: Xavier Nady drove in three runs in his San Francisco debut and Tim Lincecum looked more like himself over 6 1/3 solid innings as the visiting Giants evened their series with Chicago at a game apiece.
The Giants have won 11 of their last 15 overall and 18 of 24 on the road. They lead the National League West by 4 1/2 games over the Los Angeles Dodgers, who posted a 2-1 triumph over Arizona on Saturday.
San Francisco got the early jump on Cubs starter Justin Germano (2-5), scoring four runs in the first inning and adding another in the second. After Hector Sanchez was hit with a pitch to force home the game's first run, Nady ripped a double into the left-field corner to clear the bases and make it 4-0. Marco Scutaro's sacrifice fly capped San Francisco's scoring.
That was enough support for Lincecum (8-14) and the bullpen. Lincecum allowed two runs on four hits and struck out seven. Sergio Romo worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his ninth save.
David DeJesus hit a two-run homer for the Cubs, who have lost 23 of their last 31 games.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Giants OF Angel Pagan hit his 10th triple of the season. He needs two more to tie the club record held by Willie Mays and Steve Finley. … Lincecum had lost three of his previous four starts and had not made it through six innings in any of his last three outings. … Nady, a September call-up for the Giants, recorded his first multi-RBI game in the majors since July 27, 2011. … San Francisco's Joaquin Arias, whose nine-game hitting streak ended when he was retired in his only at-bat as a pinch hitter, took fly balls during batting practice. He may get some work in the outfield down the stretch.
San Francisco | Chi. Cubs | |
Tim Lincecum | Player | Justin Germano |
Win | W/L | Loss |
6.1 | IP | 5.0 |
7 | Strikeouts | 2 |
4 | Hits | 6 |
2.84 | ERA | 9.00 |
San Francisco | Chi. Cubs | |
Buster Posey | Player | Anthony Rizzo |
2 | Hits | 2 |
0 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 3 |
.500 | Avg | .500 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
San Francisco | 8 | 0 | 13 | .235 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Chi. Cubs | 5 | 1 | 9 | .179 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |