Martinez Tribune The website of the Martinez Tribune.
BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER
Darren Ruf and Thario Estrada provided the offensive punch in the eighth inning to back a strong pitching performance by Logan Webb as the reeling Giants snapped their four-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over Milwaukee Thursday afternoon.
Thario Estrada follows the flight of his three-run home run in the eighth inning of the Giants 5-1 win over Milwaukee Thursday afternoon at Oracle Park. The victory snapped San Francisco’s four-game losing streak and moved them into a tie for first place with the Dodgers as the teams prepare for a three-game weekend series.
The win enabled San Francisco to move back into a flat-footed tie for first place in the NL West with the Dodgers as the two teams prepare to meet this weekend in a three games showdown at Oracle Park in their final series of the year. It’s the first time since 1962 that the two teams have been tied for the best record in baseball this late in the season.
“It was a much-needed victory for us, obviously,” said Kapler. “It’s a good boost of confidence going into the next series, but obviously, all of our attention and focus was on today’s game. It was important because we needed every ounce of mental energy.”
Webb retired the first ten Brewers he faced, finishing a stellar seven inning effort with ten strikeouts while only allowing a run on four hits.
Austin Slater got San Francisco on the board quickly with a lead-off home run before the Brewers managed to piece together a run in the fourth to tie the game.
Logan Webb delivers a pitch during San Francisco’s 5-1 win over the Brewers Thursday afternoon. The Giants starter only allowed one run on four hits in seven innings while striking out ten Milwaukee batters.
With Milwaukee reliever Devin Williams (7-2, 2,70), the 2020 NL Rookie of the Year, on the mound in the eighth, Ruf laced a two-out double to left to score Kris Bryant who had walked and stole second to give the Giants a 2-1 lead.
The next batter, Estrada, then slammed a 371-foot blast over the left-field fence for a three-run home run to make a winner out of Tyler Rogers (5-1, 1.80) who had came on to pitch a perfect eighth while striking out the side.
“My thought was just to be able to compete, take it turn by turn, stay positive, stay ready and just be ready when that opportunity comes to help the team win,” Estrada said.
The first game of the weekend series with Los Angeles will feature David Price (4-2, 3.88) taking the mound for the Dodgers against Anthony DeSclafani (11-6, 3.38) at 6:45 Friday evening.
GAME NOTES:
The Giants extended their Major League leading home run total to 202. It’s the teams most since 2001, when they hit a franchise-best 235 homers.
This was just the second time this season (also April 30-May 2 at SD and May 4-5 at COL) that Sa Francisco has lost two straight series.
San Francisco is in a stretch of 16 consecutive games without an off day from August 24-September 8 and has gone 5-5 so far. The 16-game stretch without a scheduled off day is the club’s longest run of the season.
