Seiya Suzuki is off to a sizzling start in September.
The Cubs right fielder will look to continue his hot streak on Wednesday afternoon when Chicago vies for a three-game series sweep of the visiting San Francisco Giants.
Suzuki belted a solo homer and drove in three runs in Chicago’s 5-0 win in the series opener on Monday. He followed that by launching a two-run homer to highlight his three-RBI, four-hit performance in the Cubs‘ 11-8 victory on Tuesday.
Suzuki is 11-for-25 with three homers, seven RBIs and six runs in six games this month. He is 9-for-12 with two homers, six RBIs and five runs in three games vs. San Francisco this season.
Yan Gomes, who had a two-run double in Chicago’s four-run third inning on Tuesday, is 5-for-7 with three RBIs in the current series.
Chicago (75-64) moved a season-best 11 games over .500 after recording three wins in a row and taking 13 of its past 18 games. The Cubs are 2 1/2 games behind the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers (77-61).
“The group in there has believed in themselves since spring training,” Chicago manager David Ross said. “It’s very obvious. This team talks about winning. There are a lot of winners in that room, guys with hardware.”
San Francisco (70-69) has dropped five in a row and 20 of its last 29 games to slide two games behind the Cincinnati Reds for the final NL wild-card spot.
The Giants responded after consecutive shutout losses with a fast start on Tuesday, scoring one run in each of the first three innings. Unfortunately for San Francisco, its pitching went south en route to an eighth consecutive road series loss (including a single makeup game in Detroit).
With the Giants in need of a break, Michael Conforto told the San Francisco Chronicle that several teammates relished participating in a fantasy football draft.
“It’s always good to get the guys together and just have some fun, take your mind off of things,” Conforto said.
On Wednesday, Cubs rookie left-hander Jordan Wicks will vie for his third win in as many starts to begin his major league career.
Wicks (2-0, 1.80 ERA) allowed just one run in five innings in each of his first two outings. He permitted five hits while celebrating his 24th birthday with a 6-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.
“I definitely felt a little bit more comfortable out there from the start,” Wicks said, per the Chicago Tribune. “When the scouting report gets out, that’s going to be the plan (opponents laying off his changeup), and we prepared for it. We’ve got other pitches for that very reason.
“We’re going to stick with the bread and butter. Just because they might be laying off of it doesn’t mean we’re just going to go completely away from it.”
Giants left-hander Alex Wood (5-4, 4.35 ERA) will aim for his first win since July 26 when he takes the mound on Wednesday. His past nine appearances all came in relief, and he has started just 11 of his 24 games this year. Most recently, he gave up just an unearned run in three innings on Friday against the San Diego Padres.
Wood, 32, is 4-2 with a 3.65 ERA in 11 career appearances (eight starts) against the Cubs.
—Field Level Media
Original source here
#Seiya #Suzuki #stay #hot #Cubs #Giants
