Cain started the inning by issuing a walk to Bryant before Jorge Soler hit a single to drive him from the game.
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“There’s a lot of baseball left and that’s enough said”, manager Bruce Bochy said. Playing at that percentage for the rest of the season would be a 30-24 mark, something I think is quite achievable, and would give the Cubs their first 90-win season since 2008. “I think it’s looking pretty bright”.
The surging Cubs can continue the fun by completing a four-game sweep of the visiting San Francisco Giants on Sunday. The Giants and Cubs meet again in a three-game series in San Francisco, August 25-27. In each game of the series, the Giants had to go to their bullpen by the fifth inning. But there was no defending the 0-2 curveball that Cain flipped to Bryant in the third. The All-Star slugger also drove in Chicago’s first run when he beat out a potential double-play grounder in the first.
The 25-year-old Castro is batting. Be sure to stick around after the final out to get analysis and player reaction on Cubs Postgame Live. Joe Maddon handles young players as well as any manager in the game, and he is smart enough to know that moving Russell between short and second could be hard.
Brandon Belt hit his fifth home run of the road trip, a two-run shot that dropped into the basket above the ivy in the second inning.
There are less than two months left in the season and if Castro comes back from this hiatus refreshed and hitting like he has his whole career he will get the chance to play in front of the Wrigley Field fans during the playoffs for the first time in his life.
San Francisco rallied for three in the ninth on RBI singles from Ehire Adrianza, Angel Pagan, and Nori Aoki.
CHICAGO (AP) – Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro is trying to stay positive after he was removed from the starting lineup. Wood then took care of Crawford on a soft grounder to 1st, ending the threat, keeping Hendricks in line for the win, and maintaining a 5-3 lead as the Cubs entered the bottom of the 6th.
The Cubs (61-48) moved 13 games over.
2008: 64-44. Went 33-20, finished 97-64, won N.L. Central. One of those outings took place Monday in Atlanta, where the 30-year-old Alabama native escaped with a no-decision after yielding four runs and 10 hits in five innings.
“I’m making too many mistakes in situations where I can get myself out of it, and I’ve got to eliminate those”, Cain said.
The Cubs also put catcher David Ross on the bereavement list and recalled outfielder Matt Szczur from Triple-A Iowa. Ross could return to the roster as soon as Tuesday.
GIANTS: Mike Leake, acquired in a trade with Cincinnati last week, was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained left hamstring. James Russell and Jason Motte gave up the three ninth-inning runs, and Justin Grimm (S: 3) got Duffy, his only hitter faced, to end the game.
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The defense in left and at second base will undoubtedly suffer with this lineup, but the Cubs are betting on Coghlan being adequate and Schwarber… well, they just want him to keep hitting.
