SAN FRANCISCO -- Late Tuesday night, the Giants were a hit away from losing a series in excruciating fashion. From that point on, they outscored the powerful Chicago Cubs 12-1 and clinched a series win of their own.
Robbie Ray kept his winning streak going to start the year, and the Giants gave him just enough early support, winning 3-1 to take a second straight at Wrigley Field. The Cubs entered the series as the highest-scoring team in the big leagues, but Ray did his part over six strong Wednesday and the bullpen bounced back after a blown save Tuesday night.
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WATCH HEREWith back-to-back series wins, the Giants are up to 24-14 on the season. They finished the afternoon tied for the MLB lead in wins with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who were 24-12 heading into their series finale in Miami.
Flo Show
Wilmer Flores got the Giants on the board in the first by dumping a two-out, two-strike fastball into right field. The RBI was his fifth in six May games, continuing his shocking pace from March and April.
Flores is up to 33 RBI on the season, one behind Aaron Judge, Pete Alonso and Teoscar Hernandez for the MLB lead. He has driven in 20 runs on the road, which again is one shy of the MLB lead.
Flores already has surpassed last year's total of 32 RBI and is on pace to shatter his previous career-high of 71, set in 2022. He has just two seasons in his career where he even reached 60, but this year, there's just about nobody you would prefer in a big spot. Of his 33 runs driven in, 16 have come with two outs, which is second in the majors to Hernandez.
San Francisco Giants
Ray Day = Win Day
The Giants have won each of Ray's eight starts, the longest streak by a San Francisco starter since Bill Swift took part in a handshake line in each of his first 11 starts in 1992. Swift's streak extended into July of that season and ended with a 1-0 loss, where the only run on his line was unearned.
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SIGN UP Ray gave up just one run Wednesday and it was bad luck, with Heliot Ramos losing track of a fly ball that was knocked down by the Chicago wind. That lowered his ERA to 2.84, which is 11th in the NL and second on staff to Logan Webb (2.61). After a couple of short starts on the last road trip, Ray has thrown 25 innings over his last four and allowed just five total runs.
With the latest win, Ray improved to 5-0. Fellow left-hander Max Fried of the New York Yankees is the only other starter who has made at least five starts this year, with his team winning each game.
Closing time
A night after he had to pull Ryan Walker from an outing for the second time in two weeks, Bob Melvin stuck with his usual plan.
Camilo Doval got the seventh and continued his dominant run, working around a walk and striking out a pair in his latest scoreless appearance. Since allowing a run in three straight games in early April, Doval has allowed just one hit in 12 1/3 innings, with 11 strikeouts to three walks.
Melvin went back to Walker in the ninth, and for a second, it got uncomfortable. He issued a leadoff walk and seemed to have no feel for his slider, but he got Justin Turner to bounce a sinker for a double play. When Nico Hoerner grounded out, Walker had his seventh save.
