San Francisco Giants 2016 NLDS: Cubs Take Game One On Baez’s Blast

The San Francisco Giants lost game one of a playoff series for just the third time since 2012. A Javier Baez solo blast in the bottom of the eighth propelled the Cubs over the Giants.

It was a pitchers duel under the Wrigley lights, as Jon Lester retired thirteen straight leading into the bottom half of the eighth against the San Francisco Giants. The Baez home run was just the third hit of the night for the Cubs. The Cubs now lead the 2016 NLDS, 1-0.

Takeaways

The big takeaway from tonight is that the Giants are not over-matched. Their rotation is good enough to hold the Cubs vaunted lineup back. A few breaks the other way, and the Giants win tonight. Despite the loss, they did what they needed to tonight.

Sometimes the other pitcher is just too good. They’ve been on the other end of that more times than not in their past three More from postseason runs. Madison Bumgarner is the one usually doing the damage.

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Jon Lester did what you would expect of him, though, and completely manhandled the Giants’ bats. They’ll need to create a little more havoc on the base paths if they’re going to win this series.

A Look Ahead

Tomorrow will put former Cubbie, Jeff Samardzija, on the mound against Kyle Hendricks.

Hendricks lead the National League in ERA this season and will prove to be yet another tough pitcher for the Giants to deal with.

Hendricks doesn’t surrender many base-runners, so getting on base and moving people over would be tremendous in the Giants efforts tomorrow.

Samardzija’s only appearance against the Cubs this season (9/1) ended in him getting pulled after four innings and surrendering three runs.

Samardzija will have to tap into whatever mojo he had going over his final few regular season appearances if he’s going to tame the Cubs offense. Since his September 1st outing against the Cubs, Samardzija has posted roughly a 3.5 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 39 strikeouts in 32.2 Innings.

If he can match his latest performances, the Giants can get right back into it. If he doesn’t, an elimination game against Jake Arietta is looming on Monday.

Next: Giants' Season Summed Up in Cardinals Series

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The Giants and Cubs square off in Game 2 from Wrigley Field on October 8th. You can watch on MLB Network at 8 pm Eastern.