Schwarber Continues Surge, Cubs Beat

However, the Cubs’ bullpen blanked San Francisco over the final three innings.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy could see Chris Heston was out of sync right from the start.

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. 500 for the first time since the 2008 NL Central championship season.

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.

“It’s a nice compliment”, he said.

The first runs in the fifth came from Kyle Schwarber as he continued his hot streak with an infield single that scored two runners. The Cubs scored five in that inning to break open a 1-1 game. He allowed two runs, both on a homer by Josh Hamilton, in 6 1/3 innings.

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.

Cubs right-handed reliever Tommy Hunter entered in the eighth and was greeted by left fielder Nori Aoki’s pinch-hit solo home run that cut the Cubs lead to 6-3.

Leake (hamstring) was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Vogelsong dominated at times over his first four innings, striking out four of the first 11 batters on called fastballs that nicked the black of the zone. He is not sure if he will remain in the rotation.

Luckily, Leake is expected to return as soon as he spends the minimum amount of time on the DL. Bautista connected off Branden Pinder (0-1) to pull Toronto within 3 1/2 games of the AL East-leading Yankees. David Ross drove him in with a single to boost the lead to five before Lester – the inning’s ninth batter – struck out.

Starlin Castro no longer appears to be the Chicago Cubs’ undisputed everyday shortstop.

“You can go through each guy and find something really good that happened”, Maddon said. Affeldt got too much of the plate with his two-strike sinker, Schwarber’s single was hit hard and Tomlinson again only got close enough to alter its path to the outfield.

After going 6-for-14 over his previous four games, Schwarber doubled off the base of the left-field wall. Well, skipper, Joe Maddon was approached by the media just three days ago and he wasn’t ready to talk about anything just yet – at least to everyone who stepped foot in his office before Tuesday’s game.

“Are people hard of hearing in Chicago?” he asked.

Giants: Leake, whose hamstring tightened during routine sprints Monday at Atlanta, threw before the game.

According to MLB.com, the Cubs have activated Montero from the disabled list while optioning outfielder Matt Szczur to Triple-A Iowa as a corresponding move – which isn’t surprising.