SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Alex Wood took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs 4-2 on Thursday night to stop a seven-game slide.
Yermín Mercedes hit an early two-run single, and four Giants pitchers combined on a three-hitter to snap Chicago’s six-game winning streak.
An umpire’s ruling that appeared to give the Cubs a break instead contributed to San Francisco’s three-run third.
Wood (7-8) allowed two hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out two and walking two.
“He’s really deceptive, mixes pitches really well,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “We chased a little bit out of the zone in some hitter’s counts at times, but he’s a really tough pitcher.”
The left-hander got help from his defense as first baseman Darin Ruf scooped a short-hop throw to retire Patrick Wisdom in the fifth, and right fielder Mike Yastrzemski ran hard to catch Christopher Morel’s sixth-inning line drive.
“When we play good defense, we have a chance to win every night,” Wood said.
Wood’s no-hit bid ended in the seventh on Ian Happ’s leadoff single. Two outs later, Wisdom belted his 18th homer of the season, a drive to left field on an 0-1 pitch.
That trimmed San Francisco’s lead to 4-2 and prompted Giants manager Gabe Kapler to summon right-hander Dominic Leone, who struck out Frank Schwindel to end the inning.
John Brebbia threw eight pitches in a hitless eighth and Camilo Doval struck out three in a one-hit ninth for his 13th save.
The Giants opened the scoring against starter Justin Steele (4-7) in the third, which began with Wisdom’s misplay of Yastrzemski’s grounder to third for an error.
With runners at the corners and two outs, Steele uncorked what appeared to be a wild pitch that allowed Yastrzemski…