Cubs take 2-0 lead against Giants

Rookie Kyle Schwarber continued his surge with two hits and two RBIs to back Jon Lester, and the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants 7-3 for their eighth win in nine games Friday. Lester took less money to sign with the Cubs, and he looked right at home on the Wrigley Field mound while pitching them to a 7-3 victory over the Giants Friday afternoon. Reliever Justin Grimm recorded the final out in the eighth. David Ross then drove him in with a single to boost the lead to five before Lester – the inning’s ninth batter – struck out. Saturday marked the 27th anniversary of the first scheduled night game at Wrigley Field. He also walked and scored on Miguel Montero’s tiebreaking single in the fifth as the Cubs opened a 2 1/2-game lead over San Francisco in the chase for the second NL wild card. Schwarber is a natural catcher, but he has been one of the Cubs’ best hitters, leading to a cascade of moves for Maddon that relegates Castro to a reserve role for now.

Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford singled in Posey from second base with one out in the second to even the score. “It didn’t play out like we all thought it would – bases loaded, nobody out”. “I did not give (Castro) any promises regarding how he’s going to be utilized, other than just stay ready off the bench. That (final pitch) was ball four”.

Arrieta gave up four hits and two walks and struck out six in 72/3 innings to earn the victory.

He threw 101 pitches, including 69 strikes. Or when he called a time out when Peavy was about to deliver the pitch, then (of course) foul one off?

“If we were in another ballpark, there’s 10 foul-ball outs”, Peavy said. “That was just an incredible job by him not to let the magnitude of the situation get to him and continue to make good pitches”. With the way the Cubs started off grinding at bats and putting pressure on Peavy, it’s hard to believe that those would be the only runs scored in the game, but it was. Arrieta would work around the threat by getting a fly out to center by Blanco, and a soft line drive to second by Matt Duffy.

The struggling three-time All-Star was out of the lineup Friday against the Giants because Manager Joe Maddon wanted to keep rookie slugger Kyle Schwarber, batting.345, in it.

For the first time, there was a real reaction to something shown on the left-field video board, and it’s not what you might think.

Left-hander John Danks (6-9), who has a 9-2 career record against the Royals, gave up three runs on five hits and three walks in six innings. How to close out a series when we have things in our favor.

Later reports from the clubhouse indicated Aoki was fine. The Giants have misplaced eight of 12. San Francisco is 3-5 on its 10-game road trip after going 10-2 over its first 12 contests following the All-Star break.

The Giants managed a run off Lester in the second inning when Posey hit a severely wind-impacted double and scored on Brandon Crawford’s single. He was scratched in favor of Ryan Vogelsong after his hamstring tightened during routine sprints Monday at Atlanta. Belt’s two-run shot off Hendricks landed in the right-field basket and brought home right fielder Hunter Pence.In the third, Bryant launched his 15th home run of the season as the Cubs jumped back ahead 3-2.