Justin Steele struck out a career-high 12 over eight innings, Seiya Suzuki homered and had three RBIs and the Chicago Cubs beat the visiting San Francisco Giants 5-0 on Monday.
Steele (16-3), the All-Star and undisputed Chicago ace, yielded only two-out singles to Casey Schmitt in the second inning and Paul DeJong in the eighth. The left-hander also walked a pair while dominating San Francisco hitters over 107 pitches to run his scoreless innings stretch to 17 innings -- spanning the last three starts.
The Cubs (74-64) are undefeated in the last nine starts made by Steele, who lowered his ERA to 2.55, while recording his 19th quality start.
Suzuki and Yan Gomes each had two hits for Chicago, which has won 16 of its last 22 at home.
The Giants (70-68), in the mix for an NL wild-card spot, have been shut out for two straight games and outscored 22-4 during their current four-game losing streak. All four losses have come on the road, where San Francisco has dropped 18 of its last 22.
San Francisco's Logan Webb (9-12) kept the Cubs in check most of the day while allowing three runs and five hits, with a walk and four strikeouts through 6 2/3 innings. Two innings ultimately did him in, though his teammates continued to struggle at the plate.
Suzuki opened the scoring in the bottom of the second when he took Webb's fastball to the opposite field, well into the right-center field bleachers. Webb, though, resumed his dominance against the Cubs until the seventh.
That's when Cody Bellinger led off with a single, went to second on Dansby Swanson's grounder and eventually scored on Suzuki's double into the right-center field gap. Suzuki came home on a single from Gomes, which chased Webb from the contest.
Swanson's RBI double and a run-scoring fielder's choice by Suzuki in the ninth added more insurance for the Cubs, who are 31-14 since July 18.
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