On a night the Giants’ offense was mostly dormant, they got life from the most unexpected of places.
Rookie outfielder Luis Gonzalez hit a towering two-run homer in the ninth inning to give the Giants a 4-2 lead they would never cede vs. the Brewers on Monday. The upper deck blast off Milwaukee reliever Jake Cousins was the first of Gonzalez’s young career, and one he will never forget.
The Gonzalez game winner is another example of Farhan Zaidi’s Giants getting contributions from players that have been overlooked. The Giants acquired Gonzalez at the end of last season while he was rehabbing from shoulder surgery, stashing him away because they believed in his potential. Once again, it appears they were on to something.
The home run provided an exhale after it looked like the Giants had blown an opportunity in the previous half inning, when Brewers shortstop Willy Adames hit a solo shot to tie it 2-2. That home run came a half inning after Joc Pederson gave the Giants a 2-1 lead with an iconic two-run blast of his own.
The signing of Pederson wasn’t the sexiest offseason acquisition, but it’s proven to be arguably the most effective in all of Major League Baseball so far.
Pederson’s bomb to right center was preceded by some heckling from a Brewers fan that was so loud, Pederson stepped out of the box a few pitches prior. After Pederson put Trevor Gott’s (yes, him) sinker into orbit, he turned to the fan and thumped his chest before making his way down the first base line.
It’s the third home run in two games for Pederson who also launched two vs. the Nationals on Sunday. Pederson’s six home runs are tied for the most in MLB. According to the Giants, it’s also tied for the most home runs by a Giant through 14 career games.
The two home runs were enough to chase off the Brewers in Monday’s one-off make up game at American Family Field, concluding San Francisco’s first and longest road trip of the season. The Giants went 8-3 during their travels.
The victory was made sweeter considering San Francisco was dominated by Brewers starter, and last year’s NL Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes, who allowed just two hits and no runs in 6 and 2/3 innings.
It took five frames for the Giants to make hard contact off Burnes, when Wilmer Flores rifled a cutter at 102 mph off the bat down the third base line. Unfortunately for Flores, it was right at the glove of third baseman Mike Brosseau.
Brosseau was also responsible for the Brewers’ first run in the second inning, smacking a ground ball up the middle that scored Keston Hiura from third.
Hiura being in scoring position was set up by a bizarre throwing error from reliever Dominic Leone, who tried to catch Hiura leading off second despite the fact that Brandon Crawford wasn’t covering. His throw went under the glove of the charging Crawford and into the outfield allowing the Hiura to advance.
Most frustrating about the entire ordeal is that Hiura reached on an infield single, just narrowly making it to first when third baseman Jason Vosler’s throw to Brandon Belt dragged him off first base.
There were other frustrations. After getting just the second hit of the game for the Giants in the seventh inning, Gonzalez appeared to beat the tag while stealing second base. Replay didn’t seem to show otherwise, yet the call was overturned ending the inning.
Aside from Leone’s blip, the Giants’ bullpen went toe-to-toe with maybe the best pitcher in the National League. Sammy Long, who opened the bullpen game, John Brebbia, Zach Littell, Jose Alvarez and Yunior Marte allowed just two hits combined through six innings.
Jake McGee was responsible for the solo shot to Adames in the eighth, but Camilo Doval retired three batters in a row in the ninth to record the save.