Giants club Chicago Cubs 9-1
SAN FRANCISCO - Chicago manager Joe Maddon is all about learning lessons and moving on. Get no-hit? Roll up the sleeves and get back to work. Lose a few in a row? Forget about it.
The Cubs have a new problem to deal with.
Madison Bumgarner (16-6) struck out 12 in six innings, giving up one run and two hits and the San Francisco Giants beat the Cubs 9-1. Chicago lost a road series for the first time since being swept by St. Louis in late June. They had won or split their previous six road series.
Dan Haren gave up five runs in 6 1-3 innings, his longest outing in over two months, but it wasn't enough against Bumgarner, who won his fifth straight start, matched the Cubs' Jake Arrieta for most victories in the majors..
"Get into the playoffs, you can win a nice game and all of a sudden get blown out," Maddon said. "You've got to come back and play well. We've been no-hit and came back well from that. We lost three in a row, got absolutely trampled, and came back from that."
Kelby Tomlinson's first career homer was a grand slam and Marlon Byrd added a three-run shot, giving Bumgarner a comfortable lead.
"You face a Cy Young-caliber pitcher today and you have to come back from that," Maddon said. "We have another one tomorrow. So you have to understand and learn how to bounce back from a loss."
Haren (8-9), who went seven innings against Toronto on June 9, a span of 15 starts, walked three and struck out four.
"Take away the home run by Byrd and he pitched pretty darn good," Maddon said. "We couldn't get any offense going. Danny has something to build off of going into the next outing."
The win moved the Giants within 5½ games of the Cubs for the second NL wild-card spot.
Bumgarner lived up to his reputation as one of baseball's best.
"He's funky, that's the first word that comes to mind," Cubs rookie Kris Bryant said. "You can't get comfortable in there. He's the best of the best and he throws all his pitches for strikes. He's a good competitor."
Bryant and the Cubs face Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw on Friday night in Los Angeles.
"We need to learn to be ourselves and not try to do too much," Cubs outfielder Chris Denforia said. "You have to have a plan every day and try to execute it."
Tomlinson homered off James Russell in the eighth and received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd when he took his position at second base in the ninth.
"Russ had a much better chance of putting Tomlinson on the ground," Maddon said. "So, if you get a ground ball to third, it looks good. The ball goes into the seats, it doesn't look so good."
Haren fell to 1-2 in five starts with the Cubs.
"We got a run off Bumgarner, which is hard to do, and I just give it right back," Haren said. "No one feels worse about it than me. I have to be better."
Starlin Castro doubled home Anthony Rizzo in the second for Chicago.
Dexter Fowler was out of the starting lineup for a second straight day because of a left shin contusion from fouling a ball off his leg. ... Kyle Schwarber was behind the plate for the first time since Aug. 6 with C David Ross on the family emergency leave list.