Chicago Cubs: Bats come alive as Cubs top Giants in finale

The Chicago Cubs concluded their homestand with a win over the San Francisco Giants Thursday afternoon, hitting the road for LA with seven in nine wins.

Coming into the recent homestand, the Chicago Cubs were searching for answers.

They’ll be leaving Chicago feeling pretty good about things as they finished up a 7-2 romp through Wrigley, including three of four games taken against the San Francisco Giants. The club capped off the series with a 5-1 win on Thursday afternoon.

For an offense that has struggled much of the season, it sure looks like the best that had yet to come, has arrived.

Big bat delight

Three solo home runs on the day, including blasts by Kris Bryant, Jason Heyward, and Ben Zobrist, powered the Cubs to a win over former teammate Jeff Samardzija.

Eddie Butler took the ball for Chicago, who had mixed results entering his third start.

First inning control issues plagued him his first two starts and today hard contact looked to undo him early. Allowing a leadoff double to Denard Span, Brandon Belt doubled to give the Giants the early first inning lead.

That would be it, however, as Butler was able to limit any subsequent damage. He lasted five innings on the day, allowing just one run on four hits. He walked two and struck out one.

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Mike Montgomery was exceptional out of the bullpen, pitching a four-inning save. He allowed one hit and walked one. It’s his first career regular-season save, his other coming in Game 7 of the World Series.

The Cubs added two eighth-inning insurance runs when a wild pitch by Josh Osich allowed Bryant to score, and a bad throw by Buster Posey brought Anthony Rizzo in to score the fifth run of the day.

You Zo, We Zo?

Ben Zobrist continued thriving from the leadoff spot, going 3-for-4 on the day, including the home run. Now hitting .266 for the season, Zobrist is on an eight-game hitting streak and went 6-for-12 against Giants pitching.

He hit three homers during the homestand.

Next: Make no mistake, this is Jon Lester's team

What’s Next

The Chicago Cubs hit the west coast for an NLCS rematch starting Friday night at the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Right-hander Jake Arrieta (5-3, 4.80 ERA) will take the ball for Chicago against left-hander Alex Wood (5-0, 1.88 ERA) for Los Angeles.