When Matt Cain last pitched at Wrigley Field in September of 2012, it was the Giants who pulled off a come-from-behind win in the ninth inning. Today, it was the Cubs who came from behind to beat the Giants in the bottom of the ninth, 4-3.
Matt Cain pitched well against the Cubs, but Cubs starter Carlos Villanueva pitched better. Two solo home runs, one by center fielder David DeJesus in the third inning and another by shortstop Starlin Castro in the fifth, were the only runs the Cubs got off Cain. DeJesus’s towering drive to right got an assist from the wind blowing toward right field. As Hunter Pence reached the warning track, he looked up as if he expected the ball to stay in the park, then appeared surprised as he watched it float into the stands, as if the ball had suddenly sprouted wings. Castro’s home run required no help from Mother Nature. He clobbered a hanging breaking ball from Cain well over the wall in left-center.
Villanueva should have gotten the win. He pitched 7-1/3 scoreless innings, getting three strikeouts and allowing only three hits and one walk. However, in the bottom of the ninth, Cubs closer Kyuji Fujikawa gave up three runs on a single by Pablo Sandoval that scored Marco Scutaro and a double by Brandon Belt that scored Joaquin Arias and Hunter Pence. The Giants led for the first time in the game, 3-2.
Surprisingly, it was Sergio Romo who lost the game for the Giants, his first blown save of the year. On the first pitch, Cubs catcher Dioner Navarro lifted a high fly ball over the right field wall that appeared to follow the trajectory of DeJesus’s third inning home run. It tied the game, 3-3. Romo struck out both second baseman Luis Valbuena and pinch-hitter Brent Lillibridge, and it looked like the game might go into extra innings. But then DeJesus singled and Castro brought him home for the winning run with a long drive to center that Angel Pagan was unable to glove after slamming his elbow against the unprotected wall. Cubs win, 4-3.
As Pagan walked back to the dugout, he was examining his left elbow. Let’s hope he didn’t injure it seriously. That would be a severe blow to the Giants. At .350, Pagan has the Giants’ highest batting average for players who have played in at least ten games.
Kyuji Fujikawa also blew the save for the Cubs in the ninth inning, but he got the win. Such is baseball.
