Pete Crow-Armstrong hit the first pitch of the game for a home run, Ben Brown beefed up his All-Star credentials with five solid innings and the visiting Chicago Cubs thumped the San Francisco Giants 6-1 on Saturday night for a second straight win in their three-game series.
Rookie Pedro Ramirez smacked his first career homer and Ian Happ added a third for the Cubs, who followed up a 5-1 win in the series opener with another front-running effort.
Crow-Armstrong also had a double and a single on a night that began when he took a Trevor McDonald slider over the fence in left-center field for his 12th homer of the season.
Crow-Armstrong’s double triggered a two-run third. He scored the inning’s first run on a Seiya Suzuki single. Michael Busch later made it 3-0 when he stole home on the front end of a double steal with Happ.
McDonald (2-4) was pulled with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth. Busch then drew a walk from Reiver Sanmartin to increase the lead to 4-0.
McDonald was charged with four runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings. The right-hander walked three and struck out four.
The homers by Happ, his 16th of the season, and Ramirez, in the 29th plate appearance of his first campaign, completed Chicago’s scoring in the fifth.
Brown (3-2), meanwhile, pitched into and out of trouble for 15 outs, limiting the Giants to one run despite serving up seven hits and three walks. He struck out three.
The right-hander has now allowed one or fewer runs in six of his seven starts. He left the game with the same ERA with which he started it, 1.74.
San Francisco’s only run came in the third when Drew Gilbert walked and came around on a Luis Arraez triple.
The Giants went 0-for-7 in the game with runners in scoring position, all while Brown was on the mound.
Ramirez added a double to his homer for the Cubs, who collected four doubles and three homers among their 11 hits.
Rafael Devers had a double and a single while Gilbert walked three times for the Giants, who dropped to 1-4 on their six-game homestand.
