Giants bullpen falters late as three-game winning streak snapped

CHICAGO — No matter the momentum built over the past few days, any winning streak longer than three games continues to be a hump the Giants cannot get over.

They looked well on their way, or at least well-positioned, to win their fourth straight for the first time all season after Rafael Devers put them ahead with his eighth homer while Landen Roupp cruised through the first five frames in a strong bounce-back effort.

It all fell apart thanks to a familiar culprit.

Their bullpen.

Roupp allowed Pete Crow-Armstrong to tie the score on a mammoth home run to lead off the sixth, and after escaping two bases-loaded jams in the sixth and seventh, San Francisco’s relievers couldn’t hold on any longer.

One out from securing a 2-1 win that would have been their fourth in a row, Crow-Armstrong did it again. He demolished the first pitch he saw from Keaton Winn and sent it toward the scoreboard in right field, sending the game to extra innings.

Winn was attempting to record his fifth out after entering the game in the eighth.

The Cubs sent the Giants onto the streets of Wrigleyville 3-2 losers with their MLB-leading eighth walk-off win of the season when Victor Bericoto booted a line-drive single by Michael Busch in the 10th that allowed Moises Ballesteros to score from second.

After banging out 19 hits and 18 runs a day earlier, the Giants were held to five hits by Ben Brown and the Cubs’ bullpen, with their only offense until the ninth coming on Devers’ solo shot. 

Jung Hoo Lee and Bryce Eldridge ignited a rally against Cubs closer Daniel Palencia to give them a brief 2-1 lead in the ninth, but they were unable to advance, let alone score, the automatic runner on second base in the top of the 10th.

What it means

The Giants didn’t invest in their bullpen this offseason, and Saturday’s loss was just the latest instance of it coming back to bite them.

Without a clear closer, manager Tony Vitello burned through Caleb Kilian and Erik Miller before handing a tied game over to Winn, who retook the mound in the ninth holding a 2-1 lead.

Since ending April with the second-best bullpen ERA in the majors, the Giants’ patchwork bullpen has regressed to the league’s fourth-worst group, with a 5.22 ERA.

Who’s hot

Landen Roupp looked no worse for the wear after dealing with back tightness in his last start.

After laboring through 96 pitches to complete four innings while surrendering eight runs in his last start, Roupp’s velocity was back to normal, and he cruised through 5 ⅔ frames.

The only damage the Cubs mounted against Roupp came on a solo shot from Crow-Armstrong that tied the score at 1 to begin his final inning, but after putting the next batter on with his third walk, Roupp responded by getting Busch and Alex Bregman to swing through off-speed pitches at the knees for the next two outs.

Who’s not

Eric Haase lost a low-leverage ABS challenge, leaving the Giants with just one for the rest of the game, when he tried to overturn a ball below the strike zone in the first inning with nobody on and two outs.

It wasn’t the first time this trip the Giants chose a poor time to deploy their challenges. They were forced to protect a 1-0 ninth-inning lead against the Brewers without a challenge remaining Wednesday when Drew Gilbert lost their last one on an upheld strike in the top half of the inning. 

On the season, the Giants have been one of the majors’ least effective teams using the ABS system — one of six teams to lose more than they win (48%) with 16.5 fewer overturns than expected, according to Statcast.

Up next

The Giants have a full 24 hours before they play again, with first pitch of the series finale not until 5:30 p.m. PT on NBC’s nationally televised “Sunday Night Baseball.”

With an expected 4 a.m. arrival back in San Francisco and a date with the Nationals later that evening, the Giants sent Logan Webb, their scheduled starter, home ahead of the team.