May 13, 2011
URBAN ARCHIVEGIANTS PAGE GIANTS VIDEO
RECAP BOX SCOREMychael UrbanCSNBayArea.com

Our MLB Insider takes a look at the Giants' 11-4 loss to the host Cubs on Friday in the opener of a three-game series at Chicago's venerable Wrigley Field.Crooked number a killer: Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner entered the game coming off a three-start stretch in which he'd allowed two runs while striking out 19 over 19 innings, suggesting he had turned the corner after a series of disconcerting starts to open the season. His old nemesis, the big inning, came back to bit him again Friday, though, when he gave up three earned runs in the second inning alone.
RECAP: Giants halted -- Cubs send Bumgarner to 0-6 start
Thus endeth thy streak: San Francisco's brilliant bullpen, which hadn't allowed an earned run in more than 22 innings, came crashing back to earth when lefty Jeremy Affeldt struggled through his worst outing of the year in being charged with four earned runs on two hits and a walk while retiring just one batter. Righty Guillermo Mota took over for Affeldt and wasn't much better, giving up two hits and a walk -- he allowed two inherited runners to score in addition to one of his own -- before getting out of Chicago's five-run seventh, and lefty Dan Runzler brought the proverbial gas can to the mound with him in the eighth as the Cubs blew the game wide open and ended the Giants' six-game winning streak with a resounding thud.
Cody still clicking: Outfielder Cody Ross moved over to left field to make room for Nate Schierholtz, whose 3-for-4 showing Thursday earned him another start in right field, but it doesn't matter where Ross plays or bats in the lineup these days. His two-run homer in the top of the eighth provided a modicum of hope for another big Giants comeback and continued a streak of hot hitting that's made his slow start after coming off the disabled list seem like a distant memory.Buster's back: Two days after taking a couple of foul balls squarely off his mask, prompting a round of concussion testing and a day off Thursday, catcher Buster Posey was back in the lineup and showed his first signs of life at the plate in quite some time with a multi-hit game. He also struck out twice, though, so it's a bit too early to say he's anywhere close to out of the woods.Bright side, dark side: Bright: Giants center fielder Andres Torres collected a season-high three hits, including a triple, to boost his batting average to .357 on the season, and Aubrey Huff had yet another impactful game, picking up a double that cut the Cubs' lead to 3-2 in the fifth among his pair of hits. Dark: Cubs starter Ryan Dempster, whose ERA was 9.58 after his first six starts of the season, put together his third consecutive strong start for the North Siders and fanned 11 over six innings.Krukow's colors: A former Cub, Mike Krukow was asked to lead the crowd in the singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" from the home radio booth during the seventh-inning stretch. The Giants color man -- and former Giants ace - left no doubt as to where his true loyalties lay, however, by leaving it to the fans to fill in the blank in the lyric, "So it's root, root, root for the .," and he ditched entirely the tradition of yelling, "Let's get some runs!" after the end of the song, instead paying homage to the late, great Harry Caray.