Thairo Estrada hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 7-6 win over the Cubs on a hot Monday night.
Heliot Ramos and Patrick Bailey also hit home runs for the Giants, who won their second consecutive game after coming back from a 6-3 deficit in the last two innings.
Ian Happ and Michael Busch homered for the Cubs, who have lost four of their last five games.
The Giants scored a run in the eighth inning when Bailey hit a solo home run off reliever Mark Leiter Jr. They then took the lead in the ninth inning against Héctor Neris (6-2) when Estrada hit a home run over the left-field bleachers on the first pitch he saw.
“I had a feeling something big was going to happen for me today,” Estrada said through an interpreter.
With one out, Jorge Soler reached base on catcher’s interference. Mike Yastrzemski followed with a walk before Estrada’s home run.
It was Neris’ fourth blown save in 14 opportunities, but Cubs manager Craig Counsell indicated that Neris will continue to be the team’s closer for now.
“I wouldn’t expect to make a change,” Counsell said. “There was the catcher’s interference, then a walk, and, frankly, (Estrada’s home run) was a fly ball. It’s not the ideal night to give up fly balls. The walk was the only bad at-bat.”
Camilo Doval pitched the ninth inning for his 13th save in 15 chances. Relief pitcher Erik Miller (2-2) earned the win despite giving up Happ’s three-run home run in the seventh inning, which gave the Cubs the lead. Happ nearly hit Miller’s 2-2 pitch onto Waveland Avenue in left field. The ball cleared the bleachers but landed a few feet short of leaving the ballpark.
Soler drew a two-out walk in the fourth inning and scored on Yastrzemski’s triple on the next pitch, giving the Giants a 1-0 lead. The lead held until the sixth inning, when Busch hit a deep two-out home run off Randy Rodríguez to center field, putting the Cubs ahead 2-1.
“We have a resilient team,” Yastrzemski said, who also started a double play to end an inning and prevent the Cubs from scoring. “It’s a big boost for our confidence knowing that we’re never really out of the game.”
