In one of the biggest series' of the weekend in terms of the NL Wild Card race, the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants met up in game two of their four-game series on the North Side of Chicago at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.

Newly acquired Giants starter Mike Leake was scheduled to start the ballgame, but a hamstring issue that popped up Monday kept him from taking the hill and he was placed on the 15-day disabled list.

Instead of Leake, it was Ryan Vogelsong who got the start and struggled as he lasted just four plus innings giving up three runs on six hits, while striking out six and walking one. Vogelsong was pulled in the fifth after two men got on to start a five run fifth inning for the Cubs.

The first runs in the fifth came from Kyle Schwarber as he continued his hot streak with an infield single that scored two runners. That was followed by a Jorge Soler RBI double and a David Ross RBI single to give the Cubs a 6-1 lead after five innings.

The scoring started in the bottom of the first when Chris Coghlan pitched in with an RBI single scoring Schwarber.

The Giants didn't waste any time answering back in the second as shortstop Brandon Crawford singled to score Buster Posey which tied the game at one.

San Francisco wasn't going away, however, as Hunter Pence singled in the seventh scoring Matt Duffy as the Giants started to chip away at the deficit against Cubs starter Jon Lester to make it 6-2

Lester had a solid outing going seven innings giving up just two runs on six hits, while striking out three and walking two. The southpaw had to get out of a jam in the seventh and succeeded as he only gave up that one run to Pence.

Once the Giants got to the Cubs bullpen, they chipped another run off of the deficit. Nori Aoki, who came on as apart of a double switch, homered to right to make the score 6-3.

The Cubs weren't done yet, however, as Dexter Fowler, apart of his three hit day, clubbed a solo shot to left in the eighth to give the Cubs some insurance and a little bit more breathing room.

Hector Rondon came into the ballgame in "crunch time," as manager Joe Maddon likes to call it, in the eighth inning and earned a five-out save to preserve the win for Chicago.

The Cubs have had some hot bats as of late, but none hotter than rookie Kyle Schwarber, who was 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored while playing left field for Joe Maddon. His usual position is behind the dish, but with David Ross getting the start with Lester on the mound, Schwarber's bat has been too valuable to remove from the two-spot in the order.

This is a very important series for the Cubs and Giants as coming into Friday afternoon's game, Chicago had just a half game lead over the Giants for the second wild card spot in the NL.

The series continues Saturday as Matt Cain will take the hill for the road Giants, and the Cubs will send Liam Hendricks to the hill in game three of the series.

WP: Jon Lester (7-8, 3.22 ERA)

LP: Ryan Vogelsong (7-8, 4.26 ERA)

SV: Hector Rondon (18 saves, 1.78 ERA)