Crawford drives in three as Giants rout Brewers
SAN FRANCISCO -- Brandon Crawford drove in three runs and Denard Span slugged a solo home run into McCovey Cove as the San Francisco Giants routed the Milwaukee Brewers 11-5 on Monday night at AT&T Park.
Span's splash hit homer -- the 70th in Giants history -- in the first inning marked the first such feat by a Giants leadoff hitter in the team's first at-bat. He also laid a precision bunt hit in the third, which hugged the third base line and led to two more runs.
The Giants, who also received a strong five solid innings from reliever Albert Suarez, improved to a major league-best 22-8 since May 11. Suarez gave up two runs on five hits.
San Francisco went ahead for good with a run in the sixth on Brandon Crawford's sacrifice fly to left, scoring Buster Posey.
In the back-and-forth contest through six innings, the Brewers tied it 4-4 in the top of the sixth on Ramon Flores' RBI single after a leadoff double by Aaron Hill. The Giants' Jarrett Parker made an acrobatic catch near the 339-foot marker in left to rob Jonathan Villar for the second out, to limit the damage.
Cain breezed through a 1-2-3 first inning, evoking memories of his June 13 start exactly four years ago when he fired a perfect game against the Houston Astros.
But this version of Cain was coming off the 15-day disabled list, had one victory in his previous six decisions this season, and was on a tight leash from manager Bruce Bochy.
Panik followed Span's water shot with a triple hit into triples alley, and Belt promptly hit a soft RBI single, making it 2-0.
Cain went 3 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs, walking five and striking out three
The wheels started wobbling in the third for Cain. He was saddled with consecutive bases-loaded walks by Jonathan Lucroy and Chris Carter as the Brewers sent eight to the plate and tied it the game, 2-2.
Posey brought the crowd back to life in the third with a one-out RBI double to left to put the Giants back ahead, 3-2. He drove in Span and sent Panik to third.
Matt Duffy upped the margin to 4-2 with a sacrifice fly to right.
The two-out difficulties for Cain continued in the fourth, and he was removed for George Kontos after a two-out RBI double by Scooter Gennett, which cut the deficit to 4-3.
The Giants broke the game open with four runs in the bottom of the seventh, highlighted by two-run singles by Crawford and Gregor Blanco, all with two outs. Belt, Duffy, Posey and Crawford had four consecutive singles during the crushing rally.
NOTES: Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweeted that Milwaukee and San Francisco have had "preliminary (trade) talks" about Brewers OF Ryan Braun, but nothing is imminent. ... Brewers RHP Michael Blazek (right elbow impingement) will make a rehab start Tuesday with Triple-A Colorado Springs. ... Giants RHP Matt Cain (right hamstring strain) has been reinstated from the 15-day disabled list. RHP Chris Stratton was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento, where he will be a starter. Cain made his first start since May 28 on Monday. Cain was 1-1 with a 1.59 ERA before the injury. ... San Francisco OF Angel Pagan (left hamstring strain) will return Wednesday after Monday's rehab game in Sacramento. Pagan was 3-for-7 with an RBI in two rehab starts. ... Giants RHP Jake Peavy (neck) should be OK for his next start after aggravating his neck in Sunday's start. Peavy underwent treatment on Monday.