Tyler Chatwood steps up, leads Chicago Cubs to a much-needed win

Chicago Cubs: A day of obstacles for the club

As if Lester’s illness weren’t enough, the team optioned beleaguered shortstop Addison Russell to Triple-A Iowa before the contest in order to make room for catcher Willson Contreras, who returned from the IL.

Couple that with the fact that Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo departed the game within minutes of one another in the fifth and you can see the type of ballgame this could have been for Chicago. Rizzo was ejected by home plate umpire Jordan Baker for arguing balls and strikes.

Bryant, meanwhile, tweaked a knee in the cage during the game and left for precautionary reasons – but not before blasting a two-run shot off Giants starter Tyler Beede in the third.

"“With everything that had been going on — sending Addison out, Jonny being ill, Rizzo getting kicked out, K.B. having to come out of the game — you get on an airplane and not winning that game, that’s where the dialogue becomes fabricated in a negative way,” Maddon told MLB.com after the game. “It’s very difficult to control that. You try to but it is. Now we can get on the airplane, get on back home, have a day off, and regroup a bit.”"