The Sports Xchange
May 25, 2017
CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs continued to flex home run muscles with three more on Thursday while starter Eddie Butler allowed just one run over five innings in a 5-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs (25-21) used solo home runs from Kris Bryant, Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist and added two eighth-inning runs on a wild pitch as they took three of four from the Giants (20-29).
Chicago now has 26 homers in its last 14 games, second most in the majors in that span.
Zobrist went 3-for-4 while Anthony Rizzo added two hits.
Butler improved to 2-0 in his third start since being recalled from Triple-A Iowa. Giants starter Jeff Samardzija fell to 1-6 in his seven-inning outing as San Francisco dropped its third straight.
Cubs reliever Mike Montgomery worked four innings of one-hit, no-run ball for his first save.
The Giants scored first for the third time in the four-game series as Brandon Belt doubled home Denard Span from third base with one out in the top of the first. Span reached on a leadoff two-base hit and advanced to third on Joe Panik's sacrifice.
The Cubs replied with two outs in their half of the first when Bryant launched Samardzija's first pitch to the left field bleachers for a solo home run, his 11th of the season.
Heyward lined a solo home run to right field -- his fifth of the season -- to lead off the fifth and give the Cubs a 2-1 lead.
Butler worked through five innings, allowing one run on four hits. He walked two and struck out a pair.
Zobrist connected on the Cubs' third solo home run to lead off the sixth inning, sending Samardzija's 2-1 offering to right for his sixth homer of the year and a 3-1 Chicago lead.
Samardzija worked through seven innings before he was pulled for a pinch hitter. He gave up three runs on six hits, struck out eight and walked one while throwing 115 pitches.
The Cubs had the bases loaded with two outs in the eighth against Giants reliever Josh Osich and scored two more runs on a wild pitch and error during Heyward's at-bat.
NOTES: San Francisco INF Eduardo Nunez sat out the series finale after tweaking his left-hamstring during Wednesday's 5-4 loss to Chicago. ... The Giants remain the only major league team without a three-run homer this season. Their 40 homers include 33 solo shots. ... San Francisco returns home for a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves and will send RHP Matt Cain (3-2, 4.91 ERA) against Braves LHP Jaime Garcia (1-3, 4.07 ERA). It is a six-game road trip and the Cubs return to Wrigley Field on June 2 to face the St. Louis Cardinals. ... The Cubs open a three-game series on Friday at the Dodgers, sending RHP Jake Arrieta (5-3, 4.80 ERA) against LHP Alex Wood (5-0, 1.88 ERA) ... The Cubs allowed their 45th first-inning earned run on Thursday and own a 8.80 ERA in the opening inning. ... 2B Ben Zobrist singled in the third inning to extend an on-base streak to 22 games, the big league's third-longest streak, topped only by Cincinnati's Joey Votto (27) and Seattle's Mitch Haniger (25). He later homered to right.