Cubs unravel Giants defense in 9-2 win to open series

The Cubs’ consistent offensive pressure Monday seemed to be unravelling the Giants.

In the Cubs’ 9-2 win at Wrigley Field on Monday, they pulled ahead on Ian Happ’s two-run home run in the third inning. And they kept adding on, with a two-run single from Dansby Swanson in the fourth and a leadoff homer from Carson Kelly in the sixth.

And while play up to that point included one fielding error by the Giants – third baseman Matt Chapman failed to pick up a dribbler off the bat of speedy Pete Crow-Armstrong in the fourth inning – the Cubs mostly built a 5-2 lead on timely hitting.

After Kelly’s home run, they put the game out of reach by capitalizing on the Giants’ mistakes.

“We've done a really good job with that this year,” Happ said. “Whether it's putting pressure on with the baserunning, or two-out RBIs, hitting with guys in scoring position, just the little things like that, just consistently putting pressure on defenses and opposing staffs, we've done that through and through.”

It helped to have Crow-Armstrong on base again, after he singled up the middle in the sixth inning. Then Nico Hoerner hit a ground ball to Giants shortstop Willy Adames, whose throw to second sailed into shallow right field. Crow-Armstrong advanced to third and Hoerner to second.

Swanson chopped a soft grounder to third, which Chapman muffed. Next up, Nicky Lopez drew a bases-loaded walk. And the Cubs had a 6-2 lead with no outs.

“That's what speed does,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It speeds the defender up.”

The Cubs drove in three more runs with a sacrifice fly from Happ and a single from Seiya Suzuki.

Third base puzzle

Playing third base, Lopez fully extended in a dive to his left to glove a sharp ground ball off Chapman’s bat in the fourth inning. Lopez made a quick throw from his knees to nab the lead runner.

The play ended up saving the Cubs a run. When Luis Matos homered two batters later, only two runs scored, rather than three.

The Cubs continue to mix and match at third base. Since adding Lopez on April 23, they’ve started him at third base three times, Jon Berti seven times, and Vidal Bruján once

The Cubs have said they still hope top prospect Matt Shaw will eventually be their everyday third baseman. Since being sent down to Triple-A three weeks ago, he’s hitting .277. He recorded multiple hits in four straight games last week.

“Consistency of his at-bats,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said of what the team is looking for from Shaw. “And just getting a chance to get down there and gain some confidence. We’re watching all his at-bats and then talking about it, and we'll continue to do that. My hope is that he makes it clear when he's ready to come up. But we'll keep on looking and analyzing. And I have no question, he's going to help this team again this year.”

Notes

Cubs starting pitcher Matthew Boyd (2.75 ERA) held the Giants to two runs through six innings, both scoring on Luis Matos’ home run in the fourth. It was Boyd’s fourth quality start of the season.

• Kelly’s home run Monday made him the second Cubs catcher in the modern era to hit at least eight home runs in his first 20 games of a season, joining Gabby Hartnett (nine in 1925).