A five-run eighth inning by the San Francisco Giants spoiled the birthday celebration of Chicago Cubs slugging prospect Kyle Schwarber. The Giants came back from a 6-3 deficit as the inning began to win 8-6.
Schwarber, one of the Cubs' highly-touted and highly-rated young prospects, celebrated his 22nd birthday by clubbing a grand slam in the top of the second inning as MLB.com's William Boor reported. He hit it off Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong.
Although not official, the grand slam is the first home run for Schwarber in his Major League career. He spent 2014 in the Cubs' Minor League system after getting drafted in June.
The Cubs then scored single runs in the fifth (Arismendy Alcantara sacrifice fly) and eighth (Billy McKinney home run, 1).
The Giants' big eighth inning included runs scoring on a wild pitch and three consectuive singles from Guillermo Quiroz, Christian Arroyo, and Gary Brown. That last hit from Brown drove in two.
The Giants were already down 5-0 when they came up in the bottom of the sixth and saw Mitch Delfino drive home a run with a single. One inning later, Daniel Carbonell took Cubs pitcher Jorge De Leon deep with a man aboard. The five-run eighth gave the Giants the win.
In the bottom of the sixth, Giants right fielder Hunter Pence took a fastball from Corey Black off the left forearm. X-rays showed a broken left ulna, and Pence will miss at least six to eight weeks, which includes at least half of April when the regular season begins. VAVEL discussed the injury in detail.
Hunter Stickland (W: 1-0, 18.00 ERA), the sixth Giants pitcher, picked up the win. He allowed the McKinney blast but then benefitted from the five-run rally. Erik Cordier (S: 1) allowed two hits in the ninth but got out of the jam to earn the save.
Hunter Cervenka (L: 0-1, 108.00) allowed all five runs in the eighth (four earned) to suffer the loss. He got only one man out, allowed four hits, and walked two.