Chicago

Cubs

Ryan Rolison retired all four batters he faced as the opener today. Rea then kept the Giants scoreless until the fifth, when he gave up three of his four runs. The three hits in that inning were a 52-mph flare over Alex Bregman’s head, a popup double into no man’s land down the left field line and then a homer from Matt Chapman that would have stayed in play in 27 ballparks. Rea fell to 5-5 with a 5.35 ERA. He’s probably looking at a move to the bullpen if Matthew Boyd can return later this month. If the Cubs stay in the current rotation, he’ll face the Blue Jays on Saturday, but they could make adjustments after Thursday’s off day.

The Cubs had planned on having Suzuki return to the lineup on Sunday after exiting on Saturday due to discomfort in his right knee. They opted to err on the side of caution though and decided to give him an extra day off. He’s still considered day-to-day.

PCA’s fifth homer in June got things off to a great start against Trevor McDonald, and the Cubs never looked back. Crow-Armstrong is now up to .263/.341/.462 for the year. He was hitting .236/.306/.369 on this date a month ago.

Brown allowed seven hits and walked three, which usually amounts to more than one run, but the Giants never managed a hit with RISP tonight. Brown moved to 3-2 with a 1.74 ERA. He’ll unfortunately miss the home series against the Rockies next week and likely make his next start Friday against the Blue Jays.

Ramírez’s homer was a 414-footer off Reiver Sanmartin in the fifth inning. The rookie was making his seventh start in 21 games since the Cubs called him up on May 23. He’ll likely return to Triple-A at some point now that Matt Shaw is back, but he’d be interesting if the team had a starting job available for him.

Suzuki already missed the first two weeks of the season with a PCL sprain in the same knee. Matt Shaw replaced him tonight and would join Michael Conforto in line for additional playing time if Suzuki needs to go back on the IL.

The Cubs have Pedro Ramírez at third base and Alex Bregman DHing tonight. Ballesteros seems to be swinging better lately, so the worst of his slump is probably over. Nevertheless, he’s still hitting just .125/.212/.159 in his last 31 games.

The Giants brought in Erik Miller just to face Busch in the fifth, and the left-handed hitter responded with his second homer in 91 plate appearances against a southpaw this season. It was also the first homer Miller has ever allowed to a left-handed batter in the majors; they had hit .200/.318/.242 against him in 196 plate appearances.

Assad allowed three hits, walked one and struck out five. He’s pitched 12 1/3 scoreless innings versus the Giants his last two times out, lowering his ERA from 5.88 to 3.99. Unfortunately, he’ll have to face a more forward-thinking team in the Rockies next time out. He’ll just have to prepare a little harder, most likely.

Thornton had been away from the club since Tuesday as he welcomed a new addition to the family. The 32-year-old righty has been exceptional since joining the Cubs on May 6, registering a 1.69 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and a 6/7 K/BB ratio over his 16 frames.