Giants beat – After a ninth-inning collapse the previous day, Keaton Winn got Pete Crow-Armstrong to ground out in the ninth on Sunday. In the 10th, a ghost-runner re-run turned decisive as Matt Chapman drove in the winning run, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 2-1 win
CHICAGO — The Giants walked into Sunday with a memory still warm. One day earlier, with San Francisco up a run, Keaton Winn had surrendered a two-out, game-tying homer to Pete Crow-Armstrong in the ninth.
This time, with the game tied and two on and two outs in the ninth, Winn faced Crow-Armstrong again. He finished the at-bat the way he hadn’t the night before: Crow-Armstrong grounded out to first.
Then the game swung into another kind of replay in the 10th.
Jonah Cox again pinch-ran for designated hitter Bryce Eldridge as the ghost runner, and Chapman came through with the kind of single the Giants had been chasing all afternoon. Chapman banged a hit to center to score the fleet rookie, giving San Francisco a 2-1 win over the Cubs in 10 innings.
“We needed this one, needed to be able to find a way to get it done,” Chapman said. “There was some crazy back and forth, and our bullpen was able to come in and shut it down.”
In the bottom of the 10th, Crow-Armstrong, the placed runner, stole third with one out. Dylan Smith — called up Tuesday — responded by getting Michael Busch to pop up and then Alex Bregman, too.
Smith recorded his first career save.
“You can’t say enough about the way Smitty came in there and threw at the end,” manager Tony Vitello said.
Vitello also didn’t pretend the closer mix was tidy. He described the Giants’ back-end options, “or at least the mix of back-end options,” as “organized chaos.” But he had no qualms about putting Winn back in the same moment with Crow-Armstrong.
“He had talked about making adjustments from yesterday. I’ll be danged if it doesn’t come up where the game’s on the line, and those two go at it,” Vitello said. “That’s what you tune in for is moments like that, and he did a tremendous job.”
Winn said he was ready for the chance. Asked whether he relished getting another opportunity, Winn said, “Yeah, I loved it, I was actually looking forward to it.”
He was careful with his splitter, not leaving it in the zone. Crow-Armstrong fouled off one high above the zone to start the at-bat, and Winn later got him to ground out on a 2-2 splitter below the zone.
Chapman’s moment carried more weight than the final score suggests. The Giants’ first hit since the fourth inning was Chapman’s infield single in Saturday’s game that helped set him up for more RBI work across the series. On Sunday, he finished with a single that decided the extra inning.
The matchup wasn’t just about the late innings. Trevor McDonald, pitching for San Francisco, allowed one run in five innings. The Cubs scored in the second when No. 9 hitter Carson Kelly worked a two-out single that pushed him to the center of the inning. then singles to Crow-Armstrong and Moises Ballesteros followed. Ballesteros’ hit sent Kelly in.
But San Francisco answered in the first. Jung Hoo Lee delivered a two-out, first-inning single that scored Rafael Devers on Sunday.
After that, the game tightened. Cubs pitchers set down 17 straight batters after the starter had been forced out. Jameson Taillon left with a left hamstring strain in the second inning, and that disruption sent the Cubs into the kind of bullpen stretch that tends to feel endless.
It also changed the timing of everything. With the injury, the Cubs took extra time to get Javier Assad ready. Assad then made his work look simple. allowing just Chapman’s infield single. walking a man. and hitting another batter while posting a scoreless 6⅓ innings. He entered with a 5.88 ERA. When Assad left with one out in the eighth. the reliever received a standing ovation as the game was tied 1-1.
The strangest sequence on Sunday came in the eighth inning, when Erik Miller nearly turned two mistakes into disaster. Miller walked the leadoff man. then fielded Busch’s dribbler down the first-base line and tried to backhand the ball to Devers — but the ball arced over Devers as it went. Luis Arraez backed up the play and zipped a throw to third, nearly getting pinch-runner Kevin Alcántara.
With men at the corners and no outs, Bregman lined out to Devers at first. Devers quickly went to third, with Alcántara taking off for home.
Miller got through the inning anyway, striking out Ian Happ with a slider to end it.
The Giants’ win also came after a long stretch on the road. San Francisco spent 38 days of the first 66 days of the season away from Oracle Park. Sunday wrapped up their third three-city road trip of the first two-plus months. In contrast, the Cubs have only one three-city trip all year.
Game time for the finale was 7:30 p.m. CDT, with San Francisco set to play a home game Monday.
Even the schedule itself sparked disbelief. Chapman, talking with Kelly, asked Kelly how nice the off-day would be. Kelly responded with curiosity — then Chapman delivered the punchline. “No, man, we go home and play against the Nationals. … I’m dead serious, we play tomorrow.” Kelly answered, “That’s insane.”.
Vitello suggested Tuesday might be when the Giants feel the scheduling hit.
“It’ll be interesting to see how that affects the guys and how they rise to the challenge,” he said.
There is, though, a flip side the team is leaning on. The Giants are done with three-city trips for the season.
“To mentally know that those are behind you is great,” Vitello said, “then the actual physical part of playing out the rest of the schedule hopefully pays dividends.”
JT Brubaker said the timing matters for how the season will stack up. “You’d rather have the hard stretch early than late, when there’s more meaningful baseball,” Brubaker said. “I’m not saying the whole season isn’t meaningful. but when it comes to August and September. some teams are going to be more tired because now they’re hitting their three-city road trips.”.
On the trip, there were bright spots beyond Sunday’s ending. Lee and Eldridge showed consistent prowess at the plate. Chapman came around after a difficult start, and the defense—especially in the infield—was described as exceptional. Chapman made a particularly slick play on a ball Nico Hoerner hit in the hole leading off the third. sliding. popping. spinning. and throwing to first.
Still, the big problem on the road lingered in the bullpen. The Giants’ bullpen had an 8.19 ERA and 25 walks in the 10 games.
Help is expected to come soon. Jason Foley, dealing with shoulder capsule surgery, will come off the injured list soon. Ryan Walker has a 1.08 ERA and an 0.84 WHIP at Triple-A Sacramento. and the team feels good about adjustments he has made since his demotion last month. Vitello said Walker is in a good head space.
“I think he’s done what he needs to,” Vitello said. “From my standpoint, getting back out there again might be good for him. I know he’s worked on a couple things while he’s out there, but part of (bringing Walker back) might pertain to the schedule or what’s going on with other guys.”
Vitello said Foley is “just as close as Walker is, that’s probably fair to say.” He added: “You know his track record, and I think he would bring a ton of personality.”
Foley, 30, saved 28 games with the Tigers in 2024 before requiring shoulder surgery the next year.
Sunday’s 2-1 victory over the Cubs wasn’t just another win on a tight schedule. It was a second chance played out at full volume: the same matchup in the ninth. the same stakes. and a different ending—one that ended with Chapman delivering the winning run in the 10th and the bullpen holding the line to finish the do-over.
Game details at Wrigley Field:
San Francisco scored 2 runs; Chicago scored 1. The final line ended 2-1 in 10 innings.
Key scoring: Lee had an RBI single in the first that scored Devers; Ballesteros connected for an RBI single in the third. Chapman scored the winning run on a single to center in the 10th.
The game included runners left in scoring position: San Francisco left 4 (Gilbert, Eldridge 2, Devers) and Chicago left 5 (Crow-Armstrong, Bregman, Busch, Kelly 2). RISP was San Francisco 2 for 9 and Chicago 1 for 10.
Double plays occurred as well: San Francisco turned 2 double plays (Chapman, Devers, Chapman; Devers, Chapman, Devers), and Chicago turned 2 double plays (Bregman, Ramirez, Busch; Ramirez, Busch).
Umpires were Cory Blaser (home), Alex Tosi (first), Willie Traynor (second), and John Bacon (third). The game lasted 3:04 with attendance of 36,317.
San Francisco Giants Chicago Cubs Keaton Winn Pete Crow-Armstrong Matt Chapman Wrigley Field Dylan Smith Jonah Cox Bryce Eldridge Jung Hoo Lee Trevor McDonald Tony Vitello