The Bullpen also Came Through After Brown's departure, five Cubs relievers turned in scoreless outings to keep Chicago within striking distance. Brad Keller and Chris Flexen continued to dominate, while Julian Merryweather returned to form after allowing two runs to score in his last outing against the Brewers. Newcomer Gavin Hollowell was the only reliever who got into trouble. The big right-hander loaded the bags in the sixth inning with no outs and it looked like San Francisco was going to blow the game open. But a slick double play started by third baseman Jon Berti prevented a run from scoring. Counsell also brought in veteran southpaw Drew Pomeranz to bail out Hollowell, and he ended the threat by striking out Giants leadoff hitter Mike Yastrzemski. After not appearing in an MLB game since 2021, the 36-year-old Pomeranz has yet to give up an earned run through his first six appearances with the Cubs. The Bats Were Cold Wednesday's biggest disappointment was clearly the offense. The Cubs lineup only managed to collect four hits and three walks on the day. Two of those hits were doubles off the bat of second baseman Nico Hoerner, who also scored Chicago's only run. And it was a run the Cubs were lucky to have in the first place. It came when Crow-Armstrong hit what should have been a routine fly ball to left field that was misplayed by left fielder Heliot Ramos. The wind seemingly put the ball just out of Ramos' reach, leading to the Cubs' one run.