San Francisco, CA – Gregor Blanco hit a three-run double and an RBI triple, while Madison Bumgarner tossed seven stellar frames as the San Francisco Giants downed the Atlanta Braves, 10-1, in the third installment of a four-game set at AT&T Park.
Pablo Sandoval added a solo homer and Brandon Belt hit a two-run single for the Giants, who pushed across four runs in both the fifth and eighth innings.
Bumgarner (4-1) fanned 11 batters and allowed one run on four hits for San Francisco, which has won three of four and nine of its last 12 overall.
"He throws his cutter into righties and makes righties feel uneasy," Atlanta third baseman Chris Johnson said of facing Bumgarner. "Then he throws his two- seamer away and his slider. His changeup was good. With a guy like that, you can't really do too much."
Atlanta starter Paul Maholm (4-4) drove in the team's only run, but allowed six runs on eight hits. The lefty also issued three walks with three strike outs over 4 1/3 innings of work.
Atlanta's only run came in the fifth, as Maholm helped his own cause and cut the Braves' deficit to 2-1 with a shallow, two-out single to left. That's the only offense the visitors received, though, as the bottom half of the inning proved to be their, and Maholm's demise.
Marco Scutaro extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a triple to right field that Justin Upton misjudged and let slip by with one out. Maholm then plunked Sandoval before serving up Buster Posey's RBI double to right to make it a 3-1 game. Once again, Upton poorly attempted to catch the ball as it sailed over his head and looked to be catchable.
Maholm's last batter faced, Hunter Pence, was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out. It didn't get any easier for reliever Cory Gearin, who allowed Blanco's base-clearing double in the right-field gap to expand San Francisco's advantage to 6-1.
San Francisco added four more runs in the eighth. Blanco hit an RBI triple and Guillermo Quiroz followed with a run-scoring double, to make it an 8-1 Giants lead. Belt provided a pinch-hit, two-run single to account for the final margin.
"I felt like I tried to mix it up the whole game, not get stuck on one or two pitches," Bumgarner said. "I wasn't planning on doing it this way, but it worked out to where I was able to break out the curveball in the third or fourth inning -- I kind of saved it -- and then the changeup after that."
Sandoval helped the Giants take a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Facing a 3-2 count with two outs, he crushed Maholm's offering deep to left for his fifth home run of the season.
The hosts added another run in the fourth. With runners on first and third with two outs, Brandon Crawford sliced a double down the left-field line, scoring Posey for a 2-0 Giants lead.
Game Notes
It was Bumgarner's first win against the Braves since earning a victory in Game 4 of the 2010 National League Divisional series. He was 0-3 in his last four starts versus Atlanta since then ... Maholm is 0-3 in six career starts at AT&T Park ... Atlanta's Dan Uggla went 0-for-4 with four strike outs.
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