'We showed resilience': Giants bounce Brewers with HR hat trick
MILWAUKEE -- The Giants didn¡¯t get the deep start from Logan Webb that they expected on Tuesday night, but they overcame the shortest outing by the All-Star hurler in a month by riding a power surge to a hard-fought victory over the Brewers.
Matt Chapman, Grant McCray and Mike Yastrzemski all belted homers to boost the Giants to a 5-4 win at American Family Field.
Chapman tied the game at 2 in the fourth with a two-out solo home run, his 21st of the season, off Brewers starter Tobias Harris. McCray¡¯s solo shot in the fifth gave the Giants a 3-2 lead.
After Willy Adames smacked a two-run homer in the sixth to put the Brewers ahead 4-3 and chase Webb, Yastrzemski¡¯s two-run homer, his 11th, off Milwaukee reliever Joel Payamps put the Giants ahead to stay.
Manager Bob Melvin was especially impressed with the performance of the 23-year-old McCray, who earned his first big league callup earlier this month and has connected for three home runs in 11 games since.
¡°It¡¯s been great. We saw him in Spring Training just a couple of times and now all of a sudden he¡¯s the everyday center fielder,¡± Melvin said. ¡°Give him a lot of credit for the work that he¡¯s put in. He kind of looks a little different. A guy out there who¡¯s got tremendous speed and he¡¯s got power on top of it. There¡¯s some swing-and-misses, and that¡¯s what you worry about at the big league level, but there¡¯s also some hard contact. It doesn¡¯t look at this point in time like he¡¯s not up for this.¡±
McCray¡¯s home run came immediately after Brewers center fielder Blake Perkins robbed Thairo Estrada of a homer by leaping at the wall and pulling back the drive as his glove made contact with a secondary wall. The Giants challenged the call, but the ruling of a catch was upheld after review.
¡°I felt like they should have gave him the homer, but when he came back in I said, 'I¡¯ve got your back, don¡¯t worry,'¡± McCray said.
He noted that the team has remained resilient while playing in its fourth consecutive one-run game.
¡°We just didn¡¯t quit,¡± McCray said. ¡°We¡¯re pushing for a Wild Card spot, so we¡¯re just trying to win these games. They¡¯re nail-biters, but if we keep pulling through, we¡¯re good.¡±
Asked about his home-run prowess since getting his chance at the Major League level, McCray said he¡¯s not surprised he¡¯s shown power in his short time with the Giants.
¡°I know it¡¯s there, it¡¯s just not my game,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m just trying to get on base, get some hits and let my speed help the team win.¡±
The Giants didn't get much length out of their starting rotation in the recently completed three-game series in Seattle -- Hayden Birdsong, Blake Snell and Robbie Ray each failed to complete five innings -- so they were in desperate need of a quality start or two against the Brewers.
Webb figured to provide the team¡¯s best chance, entering Tuesday having gone 4-0 with a 0.96 ERA over his previous five starts.
He made it to the sixth inning, but failed to retire a batter in the frame and departed after allowing a two-run homer to Adames on his 110th pitch of the outing.
¡°Twice in the game we had leads and I give them up, but we showed resilience and came back with a couple big home runs,¡± Webb said.
Webb, making his 28th start of the season, had to battle through a 33-pitch first inning in 85-degree heat, mainly due to a 15-pitch at-bat by Brewers catcher William Contreras, who eventually drew a walk.
After a quick and easy second inning, the Brewers got to Webb in the third when he gave up his first hit, a one-out single to Brice Turang, and then was tagged for a Statcast-projected 449-foot home run by Jackson Chourio. The blast off the center-field scoreboard, the longest by a Brewers player this season, was the 16th for the 20-year-old rookie. Webb had thrown 45 1/3 consecutive innings before allowing the homer to Chourio.
¡°I wanted to give as much as I could, but I kind of dug myself a hole in the first inning,¡± Webb said.
Melvin expressed frustration that he once again had to turn to his overworked bullpen in yet another close game.
¡°It¡¯s uncomfortable to have to use guys one-plus [innings], especially guys who are at the top of the league in appearances,¡± Melvin said. ¡°You certainly get used to the intensity of every inning, every pitch and knowing that you can¡¯t let down, but it would be kind of nice to have a game where we didn¡¯t have to use our best relievers every game.¡±