Two powerful left-handed hitters will take aim at a first career deposit into the San Francisco Bay when Pete Crow-Armstrong and the Chicago Cubs open a three-game series against Bryce Eldridge and the host Giants on Friday night.
The series will be a rematch of fourth-place teams in their respective National League divisions, with the Giants having won two of three games at Wrigley Field last week.
Crow-Armstrong got the better of the young sluggers in that series, going 6-for-12 with two home runs, including one that tied the middle game in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Cubs posted their only win in that series, 3-2 in 10 innings.
The 24-year-old had a double, a single and scored twice Thursday afternoon as Chicago salvaged one win in a three-game stop at Colorado, 9-3.
The Cubs had lost seven of nine entering Thursday’s game, prompting manager Craig Counsell to conjure an “it’s early” speech.
“There’s a lot of season in front of us, and a lot of good things can be in front of us,” he said. “You have to show up every day.”
Eldridge, who contributed two hits and two runs to an 18-3 shellacking in the series opener in Chicago last Friday, went 3-for-12 against the Cubs. Turns out, he was just warming up.
The 21-year-old capped a five-hit, two-homer series against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday with a walk-off grand slam, allowing the Giants to avoid a three-game sweep.
Eldridge has started the last 13 games, during which he’s hit .426 with seven doubles and three homers, raising his average from .170 to .298.
Having played just 38 games in his big-league career, he still considers himself in a learning phase, which was evident by the way he responded to striking out with runners at first and third to end Monday’s 4-3 home loss to the Nationals.
“The only thing I could think about the last two days was Monday and how I just wasn’t pleased with how I ended the game,” he told reporters after Wednesday’s heroics. “I was like, ‘I want that opportunity back, but I don’t know if I’m going to get that opportunity for a while.’ Two days later, I got the same opportunity.
“The whole entire time I was just envisioning what I was going to do. Even in the eighth inning when we batted around, I knew I was going to get a chance (in the ninth). I was doing the math in my head like, ‘There’s going to be three guys on by the time I get up, and I’m going to have a chance to end the game.’ It was cool how it all played out.”
Chicago will turn to Javier Assad (3-1, 4.73 ERA) to start Friday’s game against fellow right-hander Landen Roupp (5-6, 3.02).
Roupp limited the Cubs to one run in 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision last Saturday in a game that San Francisco lost 3-2 in 10 innings. He has gone 0-1 with a 2.53 ERA in two career starts against the Cubs.
Roupp has started seven consecutive Giants losses after opening the season with a 5-1 record.
Assad allowed one hit over 6 1/3 scoreless innings in a no-decision vs. San Francisco on Sunday as the Cubs lost 2-1 in 10 innings. He has a 2.70 ERA without a decision in three career appearances (one start) against the Giants.
–Field Level Media
