Wilmer Flores and Matt Chapman smacked home runs, Heliot Ramos collected three hits and the San Francisco Giants rewarded Justin Verlander with a second win of the season in a 5-2 home victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.
Verlander remains unbeaten in his career against the Cubs, improving to 3-0. This outing he went six innings of seven-hit, two-run ball. He walked two and struck out five.
Joey Lucchesi, Jose Butto and Ryan Walker brought home the win, the Giants’ third in a row, with a combined three shutout innings in relief of Verlander (2-10). Walker worked around a one-out single by Dansby Swanson in the ninth to record his 12th save.
Verlander’s first strikeout came just two batters into the game when he fanned Kyle Tucker, giving the veteran 100 for the season, wrapping up the 17th triple-digit campaign of the right-hander’s career.
After RBI singles by Matt Shaw and Carson Kelly, the Giants trailed 2-1 before Ramos doubled home Luis Matos with two outs in the fifth. Rafael Devers followed with a single that scored Ramos, giving the Giants the lead for good.
Chapman’s homer, a two-run shot, provided the Giants some breathing room in the sixth and ended the night for Cubs starter Matthew Boyd (12-7), who was charged with five runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out eight.
Flores’ homer, his 14th, was a solo shot that opened the game’s scoring in the second inning.
Ramos’ hits were a double and two singles. Flores scored twice for the Giants, who won at home for just the third time in their last 18 outings.
Pete Crow-Armstrong had a double and a single for the Cubs, who had opened a nine-game trip with three straight wins over the Los Angeles Angels.
The defeat, coupled with a 9-8 Milwaukee home win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, dropped the Cubs 6 1/2 games behind the Brewers in the race for the National League Central title.
