The Giants fall to the Cubs as Javier Assad beats San Francisco for the second time in a week
SAN FRANCISCO – With an entire week, instead of just a few minutes, to prepare for this season, the Giants didn’t get another hit from Javier Assad.
Assad, who was blindfolded in San Francisco when he was called into emergency duty last week at Wrigley Field, was effective as the Cubs’ scheduled starter in Friday night’s rematch.
Well, that’s not entirely true.
The Giants got one hit in 6 ⅓ innings against Assad last week. They got him three singles this time but nothing else as they lost 5-1.
They needed more than that behind the elusive Landen Roupp, who struck out the first four batters of the game but threw 105 pitches and failed to complete five innings.
Roupp issued both walks to start the fourth and fifth innings, and both came around to score. Seiya Suzuki’s double helped open a 2-0 lead in the fourth, and Alex Bregman’s two-run double in the fifth gave the Cubs runners on second and third as Rupp’s day was over.
Manager Tony Vitello asked Erik Miller to get the platoon win against Michael Busch, who threw a hanging slider to McCovey Cove to make it 5-0.
The Giants’ lone run came off the bat of Bryce Eldridge, who also had two of their three hits against Assad. Moving up two holes in the lineup, Eldridge put the Giants on the board in the ninth with a solo shot off Trent Thornton — his fourth of the season.
It was a banner night for Eldridge but no one else on the Giants roster. The rookie finished 3-for-4 to raise his average to .316 and OPS to .959; His eight hits combined for one hit in 26 at-bats.
A walk to Matt Chapman was all that interrupted Assad’s 18-game hitting streak after Luis Arraez’s leadoff homer extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
Assad had a 5.88 ERA when he was sent down to Triple-A in May. In the two contests against the Giants since being recalled, he has thrown 12 ⅓ scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 4.21.
What does it mean
The Giants’ struggles against Assad extended to Jung Hoo Lee, whose hitting streak ended after 18 games.
With an 0-for-3 performance, Lee will have to be on pace for the second-longest hitting streak in the majors so far this season and the longest by a Giant since Angel Pagan’s 19-game hitting streak in 2016.
Who is hot
Daniel Susac has been on fire with three successful, high-impact ABS challenges.
A simple act of knowing when to tap his helmet led to three more hits for Roupp, including a 3-2 buzzer beater with a walk.
He turned a 2-2 curveball into three strikes against Michael Busch to end the first, got a full cutter in the same spot low and away against Ian Happ to start the second and stole Carson Kelly at third on a sinker that landed in the top corner outside the strike zone.
It was a remarkable showing from the Giants, who were among the least successful major league teams in sending off their ABS challenges with the sixth lowest success rate (49%).
Susac’s hot streak behind the plate only lasted for a short time, however. He turned the call to Seiya Suzuki in the fourth, but couldn’t string together a relay throw that beat out a runner at the plate when Suzuki lined an RBI double later in the at-bat.
Who is not
Willy Adames is back in the lineup after missing just his second game of the season with what manager Tony Vitello called “hip-to-knee discomfort”.
However, the odd day off was no cure for his woes.
Adames came up short, swung and missed a low slider and out of the zone to strike third and moved to third base to extend his hitting streak to 20 at-bats.
Next
Another rematch — this time against Ben Brown (2-2, 1.74), the right-hander who limited them to one hit over 5 ⅓ shutout frames last week in Chicago before the Giants lost in extra innings.
San Francisco will face Trevor McDonald (2-3, 4.15), who threw five strong innings in the Giants’ 2-1 extra-inning victory to close out their series in Chicago.
