What we learned when Estrada played the hero in Giants’ comeback vs. Cubs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
BOX SCORE
The Giants and Chicago Cubs combined to score three runs in six innings on Monday before scoring 10 in the final three innings for a wild back-and-forth battle that ended in San Francisco’s favor, 7-6.
Thairo Estrada’s three-run explosion in the top of the ninth inning was the icing on the cake to start a six-game road trip. The Giants hit three long balls together, and Heliot Ramos and Patrick Bailey were also present.
The efforts of Ramos, Mike Yastrzemski and Jordan Hicks seemed to be enough to pull out a win before everything went wrong in the bottom of the seventh.
Ramos led off the seventh by tying the game at 2-2 with a solo shot into the right-field stands. Estrada’s bases-loaded pitch then gave the Giants a 3-2 lead. But manager Bob Melvin kept Trenton Brooks curiously in the game instead of turning to his bench. The result was that three runners stranded after Brooks’ third strikeout of the game.
The Cubs responded by scoring four runs in the bottom half of the inning, including a three-run shot by Ian Happ off reliever Erik Miller. The inning could easily have ended differently. Brooks misplaying a pop fly didn’t help. Neither does home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez.
Before Estrada’s homer, the Giants left 12 men on base and went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Here are three takeaways from a wild win for the Giants.
Star in the making
The first results of fan voting for the MLB All-Star Game were released Monday and Ramos led all Giants in votes with 241,532. That is good for ninth place among outfielders. Not good enough.
Ramos has looked like a star in the making since his May 8 call-up, and Monday was the latest example of that. Especially when the Giants really needed his red-hot bat. Ramos’ solo shot was his ninth homer of the year, and he now has four consecutive multi-hit games after going 2-for-5.
In that four-game span, Ramos went 9-for-19 (.474) with three home runs and seven RBI. He has power in all areas. He takes smart at bats. He doesn’t turn 25 until September.
If you haven’t somehow bought Heliot Ramos stock yet, do so now. Time is running out.
All that Yaz
Yastrzemski’s spelling bee last name is Baseball King, and his baseball IQ shone brightly at Wrigley Field. From the fourth through sixth inning, Yastrzemski gave a baseball clinic.
First, in the top of the fourth, Yastrzemski smoked a triple to right to bring in the game’s first run.
Then, in the bottom of the fifth, Yastrzemski showed his snake from right field and struck out Patrick Wisdom at the plate.
One at bat, after hitting a triple 164.1 mph off the bat, Yastrzemski laid down a perfect bunt down the third base line to load the bases. The Cubs couldn’t even make a play on the artwork.
From small to big players, Yastrzemski showed everyone how it’s done.
Effective Hicks
Regardless of the pitch, Hicks’ velocity was slow all day. The former flamethrower still found ways to pitch five strong innings despite four walks and an up-and-down strike zone.
Hicks forced 10 swings and misses, the most of any pitcher in Monday’s game. He struck out four, also had four groundouts and four flyouts for outs. When Hicks was in trouble, he found a way to get out of trouble.
The converted reliever continues to prove that he is no longer a pitcher, but a thrower. Monday marked the first time Hicks has gone five innings this month, and it was his first scoreless outing since his first start of the season. Hicks dropped his ERA back below 3.00. Hicks now has a 2.82 ERA on the year as one of the better offseason moves of any team.
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