After Trout was serenaded with a birthday song from the Angel Stadium crowd in the first inning, the reigning AL MVP celebrated his 24th birthday by drilling his major league-leading 33rd homer over the fence in left-center in the bottom half.
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But Lester did not give the Giants a rose, as Evans quipped at the winter meetings. He tested the injury before the game Friday in Chicago, but it was a no go.
Newly acquired Giants starter Mike Leake was scheduled to start the ballgame, but a hamstring issue that popped up Monday kept him from taking the hill and he was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Giants 3B Matt Duffy is second with 51.
The win was the eighth in nine games for the Cubs (60-48) and second straight in the showdown series between National League wild card contenders. He hit. 350 with two home runs and 10 RBI in the World Series loss to St. Louis.
“They stay on the changeup pretty well”, Lester said. He’s gone at least seven innings in seven games in a row. “A little bit of a grind, but at the end of the day, a win’s a win”. They did need a capable replacement on short notice. Could this happen to Schwarber as well despite the young slugger clubbing three home runs over his last four games? But he paid for a pitch down the middle to Schwarber, who scattered loose some ivy with a double in the first inning.
“The way Schwarber is swinging the bat, there are going to be a lot of options for (Maddon), and he has to be able to play the matchups, play the hot hand and put the best team on the field”, Epstein said.
Vogelsong departed after giving up back-to-back doubles with none out in the fifth to Cubs shortstop Addison Russell and Fowler.
It’s likely that Leake will miss two starts.
But Bochy did not attempt to extend a pitcher who hadn’t started in a month. The Giants received eight hits with Norichika Aoki launching a solo homer while Hunter Pence and Brandon Crawford singled in runs.
CHICAGO (AP) – The Chicago Cubs wasted no time building a five-run lead, and once he sensed it slipping away, manager Joe Maddon went out to the mound with a quick hook. Coghlan managed to get Schwarber to 3rd for the 1st out of the inning and after a Rizzo groundout, Bryant stepped up to the plate.
The Giants had Schwarber picked off, but Affeldt hesitated an instant before he threw, the ball stuck in Brandon Belt’s glove and the runner slid ahead of the tag at second base. Right fielder Jorge Soler gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead with a first-inning, two-out single to left.
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Castro was unavailable. The Cubs said he would address the media Saturday. “And we’ve been making a few too many two-strike mistakes here”. David Ross then drove him in with a single to boost the lead to five before Lester – the inning’s ninth batter – struck out.
