The Brewers smacked the nine hardest-hit balls of the game on Thursday night in Oracle Park. The 10th-weakest contact, though, off Jonathan Davis’ bat in the top of the 10th inning, drove in what became the winning run.
Davis’ tapper — at 66.8 mph of exit velocity — off closer Camilo Doval put Milwaukee ahead 3-2. It erased run-saving catches from Mike Yastrzemski and Luis González and a gutsy, career-high 41-pitch performance from Doval.
One night after walking off the Diamondbacks, the Giants (45-43) couldn’t repeat their magic in the series opener against the Brewers. Corbin Burnes won what never quite manifested as an epic pitching duel between two All-Stars, as Carlos Rodón’s Giants went down in order to cap a 3-2 extra-innings loss.
Burnes allowed four hits — one being a perfectly executed two-strike bunt — in 7.1 innings. Rodón struck out seven, but only lasted five one-run innings.
Three Brewers singles — one of which dropped between David Villar and Luis González’s feet in right field — loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning. Then Rodón fell behind 2-0 to Jonathan Davis, a career .179 hitter.
But Rodón battled back to punch out Davis. He rang up Andrew McCutchen on a slider. Then with two outs, he touched 98 mph on a high 1-2 fastball to Willy Adames to end the inning.
The Giants’ All-Star touched his finger to his lips after that third strikeout in a row, shushing an Oracle Park crowd still giddy from yesterday’s Brandon Crawford walk-off.
The Brewers’ All-Star, Burnes, retired the first six Giants he faced. But the righty, who led the National League in strikeout-to-walk ratio during last season’s Cy Young campaign, uncharacteristically lost his command in the third.
Burnes walked Yastrzemski, who then stole second. Yastrzemski advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a passed ball. The Giants took a 1-0 lead before registering a single hit.
San Francisco’s first hit came at the right time, though. Joc Pederson smacked a two-out single into center field to score Joey Bart, who walked, from second.
In three career starts against the Giants prior to Thursday, Burnes had struck out 25 and walked three. “We’ve seen enough of Burnes to know that we don’t love facing him,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said pregame. Burnes’ track record made his third-inning misplacement of the strike zone almost unprecedented.
Rodón walked three batters of his own and a 35-pitch fourth inning drove his pitch count up. A pair of two-out singles stressed Rodón again in the fifth. Rowdy Tellez then drilled the lefty’s 99th pitch into the left-center gap. Yastrzemski saved two runs by leaping at the wall and fully extending his glove.
Yastrzemski and Joc Pederson shoulder-bumped after the highlight-reel catch. Rodón, who has allowed eight earned runs in his last 46 innings, let out a scream from the mound. The Giants clung to a 2-1 edge and turned it to their bullpen.
John Brebbia, who started Wednesday, was SF’s first reliever up. The MLB leader in games played allowed three consecutive hits, the third of which scored the tying run.
Burnes, meanwhile, shook off his third inning and shoved. He surged past Rodón with nine strikeouts. Brandon Belt’s two-strike bunt and Joey Bart’s double represented the only two Giants baserunners from the fourth inning through the seventh.
Then Craig Counsell sent Corbin Burnes back out to the mound for the eighth inning at 101 pitches. Brandon Crawford, the hero of Wednesday’s walk-off win, flipped a leadoff single on the first Burnes pitch he saw. After Burnes fanned his 10th batter of the night, he walked LaMonte Wade Jr. with his season-high 115th pitch.
Wade’s walk ended Burnes’ start and the Giants eventually loaded the bases. But Darin Ruf’s pinch-hit connection fell just short of the right field bricks and ended the threat.
The teams earned extra innings when Doval worked around a double and former Giant Trevor Gott struck out David Villar and Yastrzemski. There would be no meltdown for the familiar face.
Doval was asked to pitch two innings for the third time in his career — and first since his six-out save in Game 3 of the NLDS. With so many relievers used in the previous day’s bullpen game, San Francisco didn’t have much of a choice.
Doval nearly held the Brewers scoreless again, except a dribbler at 66.8 mph of exit velocity scored the go-ahead run. It was the kind of rotten live ball luck many Giants pitchers are sick of by now.
With one last chance, Crawford couldn’t put on his cape for a second game in a row. Austin Wynns went down swinging at a Devin Williams airbender. And last year’s Late Night LaMonte didn’t come through. There was no such luck remaining for the Giants.