Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (6/27/24): Cubs 5, Giants 3 F/10 – Cubs Sweat Out Extras Win to Avoid Sweep
It wasn’t easy, but the Cubs were finally able to win a game against the Giants at Oracle Park on Thursday afternoon. It was an extra-innings affair that featured another blown lead and being forced to sweat out a prime scoring chance to secure the save in the 10th.
Nico Hoerner got his team on the board with a two-run homer off of Jordan Hicks in the 2nd inning and Seiya Suzuki added a triple later in the frame to give the Cubs a 3-0 advantage. Shōta Imanaga was much better Thursday after his 10-run implosion against the Mets, keeping San Francisco off the board through five.
2 puts us up 2! pic.twitter.com/tslGLSVG4q
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 27, 2024
The Giants had a pair of singles to put to two on with two outs in the bottom of the 6th, then Jorge Soler hit a ground-rule double to make it a 3-1 game. An Imanaga wild pitch and a weak infield single by Luis Matos brought in both runners to tie the score.
It stayed 3-3 all the way to extra innings before Ian Happ took reliever Luke Jackson deep for a home run to center to bring in the Manfred Man and give Chicago a 5-3 edge in the 10th. Porter Hodge gave up a bloop single to put men on first and second with nobody out in the bottom of the frame but proceeded to get the next three hitters and save the 5-3 victory. (Box score)
Key Moment
It appeared things were spinning out of control yet again in the bottom of the 10th when a pop-up from Brett Wisely just tipped off the edge of Dansby Swanson‘s glove for a single. Hodge was able to bear down and strike out the next batter and then get a couple additional pop-ups to escape the jam with a win.
Why the Cubs Won
The much-maligned bullpen pitched four scoreless innings and a pair of homers provided just enough offense.
Stats That Matter
- Imanaga was good on Thursday with much crisper stuff and he didn’t give up much hard contact outside of the Soler double: 6 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 3 K, and 2 BB.
- Hoerner had three hits and may be starting to come out of his funk.
- Happ had two walks in addition to his homer after doing nothing in the first three games of the series.
- Despite how bad he has looked in 2024, Héctor Neris got his seventh win of the season after pitching the 9th inning. Baseball can be very dumb.
Bottom Line
The Cubs getting a win is nice to see, not that it really changes anything with the big picture. That image got even cloudier with the news that Javier Assad is down with an arm injury, putting more pressure on the haggard bullpen. That should force them to give more chances to hard-throwing yet inexperienced relievers like Porter Hodge, who could catch lightning in a bottle. This is a desperate time, so big swings are probably a very good idea.
On Deck
Things don’t get any easier for the Cubs with a trip to Milwaukee for three with the first-place Brewers starting Friday at 7:10pm CT. Jameson Taillon faces off against Colin Rea in a game airing on MLB Network (out of market only), Marquee, and 670 The Score.