CHICAGO — Kris Bryant, Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist hit solo homers, and the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants 5-1 on Thursday for their third straight win.
Heyward went deep for the second time in three games and has a five-game hitting streak since a sprained finger in his right hand caused him to miss 12 games.
Zobrist added two singles as the Cubs took three of four games from the Giants and finished a 7-2 homestand.
Spot starter Eddie Butler (2-0) allowed one run and four hits in five innings, rebounding from a sloppy outing last week against Milwaukee, when he walked five over three innings. Mike Montgomery pitched one-hit ball over four innings for his first professional save.
Jeff Samardzija (1-6) gave up three runs and six hits in seven innings with eight strikeouts. He also gave up three home runs against Arizona in his first start of the season on April 6.
San Francisco went 3-4 on its trip, losing its final three games.
Brandon Belt hit an RBI double in the first, but Bryant tied the score in the bottom half with his 11th homer, a drive to left into a 15 mph wind that was caught by a fan with a glove.
Heyward’s leadoff homer in the fifth put the Cubs ahead, and Zobrist connected starting the sixth, a drive halfway up the right-field bleachers.
Josh Osich threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the eighth, and a throwing error by catcher Buster Posey allowed another run to score.
CONTROL FREAK
Samardzija went 154 consecutive batters without a walk before putting on Ian Happ with two outs in the sixth.
DIAL Z
Zobrist reached base for the 22nd straight game, one shy of his career high set with Tampa Bay in 2011.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Giants: INF Eduardo Nunez (left hamstring soreness) was scratched from the lineup before the game.
Cubs: SS Addison Russell got the day off and Javier Baez started in his place.
UP NEXT
Giants: RHP Matt Cain (3-2, 4.91) faces Atlanta lefty Jamie Garcia (1-3, 4.07) as San Francisco opens a six-game homestand on Friday night.
Cubs: RHP Jake Arrieta (5-3, 4.80) is to start at the Los Angeles Dodgers against LHP Alex Wood (5-0, 1.88) on Friday night. Arrieta allowed just one unearned run in six innings in his last start after a string of sub-par outings when he gave up 21 earned runs over 26 innings. Wood has pitched 18 1/3 straight scoreless innings.
