Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya greeted closer Héctor Neris on the edge of the infield grass with an encouraging pat on the butt.
The 36,048 fans in Wrigley Field quickly shifted from stunned silence to overwhelming boos to accompany Neris into the dugout, minutes after San Francisco Giants second baseman Thairo Estrada slugged a go-ahead, three-run home run in the top of the ninth. He jumped on Neris’ first pitch, turning on a 94 mph low-and-inside fastball and depositing it into the left-field bleachers.
A catcher’s interference call on Amaya and a five-pitch walk to Mike Yastrzemski put two on with one out in the ninth. Following a mound visit by pitching coach Tommy Hottovy, Estrada took Neris deep.
“Frankly, it’s a fly ball,” manager Counsell said of the home run, which had an .050 expected average. “It’s the wrong night to give up fly balls and that’s three runs. So, if you’re really asking me to evaluate Héctor’s performance, the walk is the only bad at-bat.”
The 16th blown save ties the Cubs with the Detroit Tigers for second-most in the big leagues, trailing only the White Sox (20). Only the Miami Marlins (49) and the Colorado Rockies (47) have more losses in the National League than the Cubs (34-39).
“It’s a situation that happens in the game,” Neris said. “We’ll be together, we’ll keep fighting and never stop. … We expect to win every day.”
Neris has allowed eight runs in his last three appearances — all save chances — with two blown leads. Asked about moving Neris out of save situations, Counsell said he didn’t anticipate doing that.
“Look, we’ve got a bullpen, we’ve got to find guys to get outs and Héctor’s been a guy that’s been reliable for us,” Counsell said. “We’re always going to examine every best way to get 27 outs every day and we’re going to need Héctor to be a part of that.”
Right-handed starter Javier Assad had kept the Cubs in it behind five innings of one-run ball.
The Cubs scored their most runs in a game since June 5 against the White Sox. They finally got on the board in the sixth inning after Giants starter Jordan Hicks departed. Michael Busch’s ninth home run of the year put them ahead with a two-out, two-run shot to center field and reclaimed their quickly disappearing lead in the seventh.
Seiya Suzuki connected for a two-out RBI double and Ian Happ followed with a three-run home run crushed to left field.
But on a stiflingly hot night when the offense finally delivered multiple big hits with runners in scoring position, the bullpen didn’t hold up. On the second pitch after the Cubs went ahead in the sixth, Heliot Ramos took Hayden Wesneski deep to open the top of the seventh. The Giants added a run, which was charged to Wesneski, when Mark Leiter Jr. hit Estrada with two outs and the bases loaded.
The Cubs’ three-run lead behind their four-run fourth didn’t hold up, however. Giants catcher Patrick Bailey got a run back on his home run off Leiter in the eighth, and Estrada delivered the devastating blow in the ninth.
The Cubs must again try to regroup and break out of a six-week funk that is disturbingly reminiscent of last year’s season-defining stretch.
“It’s a tough one, obviously,” Busch said. “Every day we come here, just try and get the win and when you don’t, they count the same.”
