Ace Showdown: Bumgarner, Giants Knock Off Arrieta, Cubs 3-2
CHICAGO (AP) — Madison Bumgarner outpitched Jake Arrieta with 10 strikeouts over six innings, and the San Francisco Giants pounced on rare miscues by the Chicago Cubs in a 3-2 victory on Saturday.
Bumgarner (14-8) allowed two runs and five hits in his fourth victory in his last five starts. San Francisco, trying to catch Los Angeles in the NL West, rebounded from a pair of one-run losses in the first two games of the four-game set against the major league leaders.
Arrieta (16-6) was charged with three runs — two earned — and four hits in six innings in his first loss since July 30. Chicago had won five in a row overall.
The Cubs had one last chance when pinch hitter Anthony Rizzo led off the ninth with a walk against Will Smith. Rizzo advanced on a sacrifice by Dexter Fowler, but the big first baseman was caught off second on the play and Kris Bryant hit a soft lineout to shortstop Brandon Crawford, handing Santiago Casilla his 30th save.
Chicago also had an opportunity in the sixth, but Bumgarner struck out Matt Szczur for the third time with two on. Hunter Strickland got Addison Russell to line to right with the bases loaded in the seventh.
The sputtering Giants had dropped three of four and eight of 12 overall.
The Cubs entered with a 16 1/2-game lead in the NL Central thanks to a number of tremendous defensive plays in the past week. But they were sloppy on a cloudless day with the wind blowing in as two of the game's top pitchers squared off.
Third baseman Tommy La Stella's two-out throwing error in the first made it 1-0. The Giants scored in the fourth with the help of a passed ball and added a run in the sixth on Arrieta's second wild pitch.
The Cubs got within 2-1 in the fifth thanks to Baez's hustle. He led off with a single, stole second and scored from there when third baseman Eduardo Nunez was unable to barehand Arrieta's slow roller.
Angel Pagan doubled and scored on the error by La Stella, who was a late addition after Jorge Soler was scratched with an ingrown toenail. Soler hit for La Stella in the fifth and struck out with one on.
The Giants took a 2-0 lead on Nunez's RBI single in a fourth that included a walk and wild pitch by Arrieta and Willson Contreras' passed ball.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Giants: Reliever Derek Law (elbow) hasn't begun throwing yet, but manager Bruce Bochy said they "expect him to be at full strength" when he's eligible to come off the disabled list Sept. 12.
Cubs: Setup man Hector Rondon (triceps) threw a 22-pitch simulated game and felt good enough that his rehab stint at Triple-A Iowa was scrapped. Rondon could be activated Monday. "I'm back to normal," he said. . Soler played two innings in left before being replaced in a series of moves that brought Jason Heyward off the bench.
STREAK OVER
Giants 1B Brandon Belt dropped Ben Zobrist's two-out popup in the first to stop the longest errorless streak in franchise history at 17 games.
UP NEXT
RHP Johnny Cueto (14-5, 2.98 ERA) looks to rebound from his shortest stint with the Giants when he faces Cubs RHP John Lackey (9-7, 3.41 ERA) on Sunday.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)