Giants, Cueto dominate Brewers
SAN FRANCISCO -- Johnny Cueto went seven innings to beat the Milwaukee Brewers for the eighth consecutive time on Wednesday afternoon, pitching the San Francisco Giants to a 10-1 victory and a sweep of the three-game series.
Gregor Blanco, Joe Panik, Matt Duffy and Angel Pagan had three hits apiece as the Giants beat the Brewers for the fifth time in six meetings this season.
The series sweep was San Francisco's sixth of the season and pushed the National League West leaders 15 games above .500 for the first time this year.
Cueto (10-1) limited the Brewers to one run and seven hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out nine.
The former Cincinnati Reds pitcher hasn't lost to Milwaukee since Aug. 2, 2012. Only three pitchers -- Randy Johnson (14), Jose Lima (10) and Dave Stewart (nine) -- had longer winning streaks against the Brewers.
Milwaukee scored a total of 11 runs in 59 innings against Cueto during his streak.
The Giants took advantage of shoddy Brewers defense to put together back-to-back, four-run innings against Milwaukee starter Jimmy Nelson (5-6).
It began in the third after a leadoff single by Blanco.
Panik bunted back to Nelson, who threw wildly to first base for the second of Milwaukee's four errors in the game.
Buster Posey drove in the first two runs with a single and Duffy made it 3-0 when he added an RBI single.
A fourth run scored when Brewers third baseman Hernan Perez overthrew first base, allowing Duffy to score.
Blanco also got the four-run fourth rolling with a double. He scored on Panik's RBI single.
After a one-out single by Posey, Nelson had a chance to get out of the inning when he struck out Duffy, but Perez couldn't handle Martin Maldonado's throw on a steal attempt by Panik, allowing a second run to score.
Angel Pagan's run-scoring double made it 7-0 and ended Nelson's day. Jarrett Parker's RBI single off Jhan Martinez capped the big inning.
Nelson was charged with eight runs (six earned) in a season-low 3 2/3 innings. He allowed eight hits and three walks, striking out two.
Ramiro Pena put the finishing touches on the scoring with a two-run single in the eighth.
Pagan finished with two doubles among his three hits. The Giants out-hit the Brewers 16-8 in winning for the 14th time in their last 18 home games against the NL Central club.
The sweep allowed the Giants to finish a 6-2 homestand. They've won 11 of their last 13 home games.
A disastrous day at the ballpark for the Brewers also included right fielder Ramon Flores tripping over the bullpen mound while chasing a foul fly ball and Jonathan Villar getting picked off first base by Cueto, resulting in the leadoff hitter's major-league-leading eighth caught stealing of the season.
Alex Presley's fifth-inning single scored Perez with the Brewers' only run.
Jonathan Lucroy had two hits for Milwaukee, which fell to 11-19 on the road.
NOTES: Giants 1B Brandon Belt, pulled from Tuesday's game after getting hit by a pitch on the right ankle, was kept out of the starting lineup. ... Giants manager Bruce Bochy admitted he has not ruled out using RHP Madison Bumgarner as a designated hitter at some point during a three-game series at Tampa Bay later this week. ... Brewers LF Ryan Braun did not start. He had struggled in previous at-bats against Giants RHP Johnny Cueto, going 10-for-47 (.213) with 14 strikeouts. Only St. Louis RHP Adam Wainwright (20) has struck out Braun more often in his career. ... With Braun, the club's No. 3 hitter, out of the lineup, C Jonathan Lucroy moved up a spot to third and CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis batted cleanup for the first time in his big league career. ... Brewers manager Craig Counsell announced that RHP Michael Blazek (right elbow impingement) came through an injury-rehab outing in good shape and is scheduled to make one more appearance for Triple-A Colorado Springs on Thursday night. He could be reinstated from the 15-day disabled list by the weekend.