But Bochy said he wants the right-hander, the Giants’ lone trade deadline acquisition, fully healthy down the stretch.
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“No guarantee”, Bochy said.
The hamstring strain was found during an MRI examination.
Hector Rondon pitched an inning and a third to pick up his 18th save.
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.
Lester’s former Boston connection with Cubs executive Theo Epstein, plus an aversion to playing three time zones from his home, influenced his decision to take the Cubs’ six-year, $155 million offer when the Giants were offering more and the Dodgers gave him a blank offer sheet.
Right fielder Jorge Soler then doubled to deep left to score Schwarber and Bryant and catcher David Ross singled to center to drive in Soler for a 5-1 lead. “I actually felt really good in the bullpen”, Heston said. “Saw a lot of hitter’s counts and that’s going to make it tough on anybody”. The Cubbies pounded out 12 hits and walked twice with Dexter Fowler going solo and scoring twice while Kyle Schwarber knocked in two and scored two. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the only other second basemen with at least three RBIs in either their first or second game was Rogers Hornsby and Jeff Kent.
That made it 3-1 and the Cubs were not finished.
After the game, Maddon confirmed Russell, who made two defensive gems, would be back at short Saturday. Fowler also scored a pair of runs and swiped his 17th base of the season.
In the American League, Central leader Kansas City lost to a ninth-inning Ian Kinsler homer at Detroit, but nearest divisional rival Minnesota was also beaten, with Toronto completing a four-game sweep of the Twins. 332 average trails only Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt (.339) in the NL batting race. Cubs reliever Justin Grimm (2-3) worked the flawless fifth inning to earn the victoryChicago led 5-0 after two innings, but two-run homers by San Francisco first baseman Brandon Belt and shortstop Brandon Crawford sliced the margin to one. He now has seven RBI in has last three games.
San Francisco has placed right-hander Mike Leake on the disabled list after he was scratched from today’s start with a hamstring injury.
The Giants trimmed a three-run deficit to 5-4 with two outs in the sixth on Crawford’s two-run homer to left. Hendricks comes off of a 4-2 victory at Milwaukee where he gave up a run on four hits in seven frames. Just didn’t really have a good feel for my curveball.
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Meanwhile the Giants need a big effort from spot starter Vogelsong (7-7, 4.16 ERA) who was removed from the rotation post All-Star break. The Giants are unsure if he will miss any additional time. He threw a bullpen session July 10. He is not expected to play again.
