After being limited to just three hits in a shutout loss last night, Milwaukee bounced back in a big way. Logan Henderson was terrific, Jackson Chourio and William Contreras each had multi-hit games, Luis Lara had three RBIs, and all nine starters recorded at least one hit as the Brewers cruised to an 8-2 win over the San Francisco Giants.
It only took the Brewers two batters to put a runner in scoring position, as Brice Turang and Jackson Chourio opened the game with back-to-back singles
off Giants starter Landen Roupp. William Contreras grounded into a force at second, putting runners on the corners for Christian Yelich, who hit into an inning-ending double play. Brewers starter Logan Henderson matched Roupp in the bottom of the first, working around a pair of singles to keep San Francisco off the board. Both starters had even smoother second innings, retiring the side in order.
Roupp allowed the game’s first run in the top of the third thanks to an extremely Brewers rally: Cooper Pratt drew a walk, David Hamilton laid down a sacrifice bunt, Brice Turang hit a grounder that moved Hamilton to third, and Jackson Chourio drove in Pratt with a two-out single.
Milwaukee wasn’t satisfied with just one run, adding three more in the fourth with a two-out rally. Roupp lost the strike zone against the bottom of the Brewers’ order, beginning with a five-pitch walk to Luis Lara. After Lara stole second, Roupp hit Garrett Mitchell to put runners on first and second. That brought up Cooper Pratt, who chased a curveball at least a foot off the plate on a 2-2 count, but managed to flare it into shallow right-center for an RBI single.
Lara scored to make it 2-0, Mitchell advanced to third, and Pratt promptly stole second to put two more runners in scoring position. David Hamilton then drew a four-pitch walk, none of which were particularly close to the strike zone. At this point, Giants manager Tony Vitello had seen enough, pulling Roupp in favor of JT Brubaker. Brubaker’s first pitch was lined back up the middle by Turang for a two-run single, scoring Mitchell and Pratt to make it 4-0.
Chourio couldn’t keep the rally going, grounding into a force out to end the inning, but the Brewers had built a lead they were never in danger of giving away thanks to another dominant performance from their pitching staff. Henderson finished with 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while walking two and striking out seven. He’s been consistently good as a major leaguer, but this was his best start since returning from the injured list more than a month ago — and arguably his best outing of the season.
Milwaukee added another run in the fifth after Contreras tripled and Lara brought him in with a groundout. Two innings later, Lara ripped a two-run triple into right-center to score Yelich and Andrew Vaughn. According to Statcast, the ball left his bat at 105.5 mph and traveled 389 feet. It wasn’t particularly close to clearing the wall, even to the left of Oracle Park’s famed Triples Alley, but it would have been a home run in a few other ballparks.
The Brewers tacked on one final insurance run in the eighth as Hamilton doubled, Turang singled, and Chourio drove Hamilton home with a groundout.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee’s bullpen kept the Giants off the board until long after the game was decided. Henderson exited with two outs and nobody on in the sixth, handing the ball to Aaron Ashby, who got Rafael Devers to ground out and end the inning. Grant Anderson gave up a two-run homer to Bryce Eldridge in the eighth, but those were the Giants’ only runs of the night. Craig Yoho pitched a scoreless seventh and Abner Uribe worked around a pair of singles to close things out in the ninth, giving the Brewers their third win in four games.
Shane Drohan will start for the Brewers tomorrow opposite Logan Webb as Milwaukee looks to secure its fourth straight series victory. First pitch in the series finale is scheduled for 2:45 p.m.
