Series victory in Milwaukee gives the Giants a little road momentum
MILWAUKEE >> After being swept at Coors Field last September, the Giants arrived at Miller Park in Milwaukee near the end of the 2018 season as an exhausted, depleted and overmatched bunch.
The club had lost Buster Posey, Johnny Cueto and Pablo Sandoval to season-ending injuries and had recently traded Andrew McCutchen in a deal that signaled an unofficial waving of a white flag.
The only flag the 2019 Giants have seen in the past few weeks is a green one that’s giving them the go-ahead to climb the wild card standings. With an 8-3 series-clinching victory over the Brewers on Sunday, this year’s trip to Miller Park only added to a growing sense in the Giants clubhouse that their roster has enough pieces to keep on ascending.
“It’s a tough place to play and to beat these guys, they’ve been tough on us, it’s great to leave here taking the series,” manager Bruce Bochy said.
San Francisco might be five games
under .500, but after winning for the eighth time in 10 games on Sunday, the Giants have pulled within 4.5 games of the Phillies for the second wild card berth.
Starter Tyler Beede’s performance in the Triple-A bullpen last summer didn’t even merit a September call-up, but after another strong effort against Milwaukee on Sunday, Beede has emerged as a fixture in this year’s rotation.
The right-hander matched a career-high with seven strikeouts and tossed 6 2/3 innings of three-run ball on Sunday to secure his third career victory. With the game tied 2-2 in the top of the seventh, Beede showed bunt, pulled back and drilled a RBI single up the middle to ignite a six-run rally.
“Fortunately they were expecting bunt and had the second baseman shifted over to where the ball squeaked through,” Beede said. “Obviously you get a little lucky there but it was good to put the ball in play.”
The rookie pitcher entered the day 1 for 16 with 11 strikeouts in his career at the plate, but punched a pair of grounders through the infield to record the Giants’ second two-hit performance by a pitcher (Shaun Anderson, 5/15/19) in the last two seasons.
Donovan Solano, Stephen Vogt and Kevin Pillar all delivered run-scoring hits in the seventh while Brandon Crawford drew a bases-loaded walk against Matt Albers in the frame that broke open the game for the Giants.
With road series victories over the Diamondbacks, Padres and Brewers, the Giants have won three consecutive series away from home for the first time since they won four in a row from May 2-29, 2016 in Cincinnati, Arizona, San Diego and Colorado.
“It’s exciting to be within four to five games of a wild card (spot),” Beede said. “Obviously I’ve never been in the position before but it’s just knowing that we go out and feed off each other game.”
The Giants began the day with a short-handed bench as neither Alex Dickerson nor Austin Slater were available to start. Dickerson is still dealing with back tightness that forced him to leave Friday’s game in the ninth inning while Slater was running a fever.
Slater was forced into action anyway in the top of the fifth as third baseman Evan Longoria due to complications stemming from plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Longoria plans to have a MRI done today in Denver but is hoping he’s healthy enough to play the second game of a doubleheader.
“If I come out of a game, it’s something that I can’t really tolerate,” Longoria said. “It was pretty sore by that point so hopefully we can get a diagnosis early in the morning tomorrow.”
In the top of the fifth, first baseman Brandon Belt gave the Giants their first lead with a solo home run that barely snuck over right fielder Christian Yelich’s glove and the right field fence. Belt’s 11th home run of the season traveled 378 feet and he put enough backspin on the ball to send it over the wall.
After a long first inning, Beede found his stride against the Brewers as he retired 13 of the 14 hitters he faced before Yelich came up in the bottom of the sixth. The reigning NL MVP regained the major league lead by hitting his 32nd home run of the season, but Beede bounced back and retired three in a row to preserve a 2-2 tie.
“I’m really happy with the way I just battled and continued to attack against a talented lineup and hitters who have been around the game a long time,” Beede said.
Following his last start, Beede was optioned to the minors but flew home to Massachusetts to mourn the loss of his step-father, Andrew Rivers III, who died of cancer three days before Beede faced the Padres on July 2. The Giants called up Ray Black to temporarily take Beede’s roster spot, but sent Black down ahead of Sunday’s series finale to clear a space for Beede.
For the second straight start, Beede did not issue a walk as the right-hander threw 72 of his 103 pitches for strikes. The 13 whiffs Beede induced on Sunday marked the second-highest total of his career, falling shy of only the 16 he racked up on June 5 against the Mets.
Beede’s start in New York was the last time his step-father was able to see him pitch in person.