CHICAGO -- The Giants still haven’t managed to get Justin Verlander a win, but they can’t seem to lose behind Robbie Ray.
The left-hander extended his unbeaten streak to eight consecutive starts to open the 2025 season after tossing six innings of one-run ball to lead the Giants to a 3-1 win that sealed a series victory over the NL Central-leading Cubs on a gusty Wednesday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
After taking two out of three from Chicago, San Francisco (24-14) moved a season-high 10 games over .500 and briefly tied the rival Dodgers (who won their 25th game later in the day) for the most wins in the Majors.
Ray held the Cubs -- the highest-scoring offense in baseball -- to three hits while walking two and striking out five, improving to 5-0 with a 2.84 ERA on the season. It was the first time the Giants have won their first eight games behind a starter since 1992, when they went undefeated through Bill Swift’s first 11 outings of the year.
“When he takes the mound, we feel like we have a really good chance,” manager Bob Melvin said. “He seems to be getting better as the season goes along, even though he’s been pretty good all season.”
“It is nice when the team wins when you start, regardless of personal wins,” Ray said. “I’m just trying to go out there and give my team a chance every single time and put up as many zeros as I can until I’m taken out of the ballgame.”
Ray needed 65 pitches to get through his first three innings, but he became more efficient as he went along. He tossed only 33 over his final three frames, retiring 10 of the final 12 batters he faced.
Ray likely would have kept the Cubs off the board entirely if it weren’t for the howling wind that was blowing in from left field throughout the afternoon. The billowy conditions created some challenges for left fielder Heliot Ramos, who couldn’t track down a seemingly routine fly ball from Pete Crow-Armstrong in the bottom of the fourth.
Ramos initially broke back before trying to run in to make the catch, but the ball -- which had an expected batting average of .000, according to Statcast -- ended up dropping for a two-out RBI double, cutting the Giants’ lead to 3-1.
“We’re used to playing in some wind, but not like that,” Melvin said. “The fly balls are the most difficult thing. That ball that got down in left field, that looked like a wedge up in the 30 mph winds. You can’t really blame Ramos for that one. That would have been a tough play for anybody.”
After erupting for a season-high 14 runs on Tuesday night -- nine of which came in a historic 11th-inning rally -- the Giants had to settle for a quieter day at the plate, though they still did enough to support Ray.
Wilmer Flores opened the scoring with a two-out RBI single against Cubs starter Ben Brown in the top of the first, extending his hitting streak to six games this month. Flores now has 33 RBIs, the fourth-most in the Majors. The Giants’ designated hitter finished 3-for-4 on the day to raise his batting average to .256 with a .737 OPS over 37 games in 2025, but he’s consistently found a way to get the job done in RBI situations, hitting .429 (15-for-35) with runners in scoring position this year.
“He’s just got a nose for it,” Melvin said. “He smells RBIs. You look at the overall numbers and what he’s hitting, OPS and all that, it looks semi-pedestrian. But in those clutch situations, it’s next-level stuff.”
The Giants pushed across two more runs in the fourth behind an RBI double from LaMonte Wade Jr. and an RBI single from Christian Koss. Wade also tried to score from second on Koss’ base hit up the middle, but he was thrown out at the plate by Crow-Armstrong to end the inning.
Less than 24 hours after blowing a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, closer Ryan Walker got the chance to return to the mound for another save opportunity against the Cubs. Walker gave up a leadoff single to Carson Kelly to bring the tying run to the plate, but he got Justin Turner to hit into a double play and then coaxed another groundout from Nico Hoerner to close out the win for the Giants.
“It means a lot,” Walker said of Melvin’s decision to stick with him in the ninth. “It shows how much faith he has in me. More than I have in myself, which is awesome. It helps me keep my faith in myself, too.”