SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Michael Busch hit a three-run homer into McCovey Cove beyond right field in the fifth inning to back Javier Assad's strong start on the mound, and the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants 5-1 on Friday night.
Busch's drive was the 176th splash hit at Oracle Park, 68th by an opponent and fourth by a Cubs player — first since Joc Pederson on June 3, 2021.
Seiya Suzuki broke up a scoreless game with an RBI double in the fourth then scored moments later on Nico Hoerner's sacrifice fly.
Assad (4-1) struck out five, walked one and allowed three hits over six innings to win his third straight decision spanning seven starts. His throwing error on a pickoff attempt of Bryce Eldridge in the fourth could have been costly but the right-hander stranded Eldridge on third.
Hoby Milner pitched the seventh and Trent Thornton the final two innings, surrendering Eldridge's one-out homer in the ninth.
Busch greeted reliever Erik Miller with his eighth home run after Chicago put runners aboard on Pete Crow-Armstrong's double and a leadoff walk by Carson Kelly against Giants starter Landen Roupp (5-7). Roupp was tagged for four runs on four hits over 4 2/3 innings.
Chicago won for the third time in its last seven games.
San Francisco had beaten the Cubs 18-3 last Friday then 2-1 in extra innings Sunday — but the Giants dropped to 7-3 overall in the matchups since the start of the 2025 season, outscoring the Cubs 63-35. San Francisco is 6-2 at Oracle Park in the series dating to the beginning of 2024.
Jung Hoo Lee went 0 for 3 and had his career-best 18-game hitting streak snapped — longest by a Giants batter since Angel Pagan hit in 19 in a row from July 31-Aug. 23, 2016.
RHP Ben Brown (2-2, 1.74 ERA) pitches the middle game for Chicago opposite Giants RHP Trevor McDonald (2-3, 4.15), making his second straight start against the Cubs.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
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