Sanchez homers in 14th as Giants top Brewers
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hector Sanchez crushed the go-ahead solo home run in the top of the 14th inning as the San Francisco Giants edged the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3, in the opener of a three-game set at Miller Park.
Facing Juan Perez (0-1), Sanchez took the first pitch of the inning for a ball, but then got a fastball out over the plate and launched it deep and over the wall in left-center field for just his second major league home run.
Giants closer Santiago Casilla (1-2), who pitched a scoreless 13th, came back out for the 14th and turned away the Brewers to collect the win.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He's a good hitter from both sides. He was fresh and he was ready," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Sanchez. "You hope someone pops one, and Hector's a good pick. It would have been a tough one to lose. We had just the two home runs, but that's something we've been missing."
Buster Posey crushed a three-run homer and Melky Cabrera added three hits and a run scored for the Giants, who took two-of-three from the Oakland A's over the weekend.
Ryan Braun hit a game-tying two-run shot in the eighth, but left the contest in the 10th with tightness in his right groin. Aramis Ramirez knocked in the other run with a double for the Brewers, who have dropped five of their last six games.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He's had a couple of tough situations," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said of Perez. "He's made some good pitches and he's struggled some. He's pitched three days in a row but we have to start swinging the bats."
Trailing 3-1 in the eighth, Milwaukee made the Giants pay for some lackluster defense after Norichika Aoki sent a grounder to Brandon Crawford at shortstop with two outs. Crawford, a usually sure-handed fielder, threw wildly to first, pulling Brett Pill off the bag. Braun followed and got a middle-in fastball from Giants starter Madison Bumgarner that he tattooed deep over the wall in left to tie the game at three.
San Francisco squandered a chance to take the lead in the 12th. After retiring the first two hitters, Brewers reliever Manny Parra hit Crawford and Cabrera followed with a base hit to put two men on, but Posey fouled out to keep the game deadlocked.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Brewers got the potential winning run into scoring position in the home half of the inning when Cory Hart and Aoki worked back-to-back two-out walks, but Nyjer Morgan hit a tapper to short for a force out to end the inning.
Earlier, the Giants jumped on top quickly, plating three runs in their first at-bat. Crawford and Cabrera drew consecutive walks and Posey brought both runners home when he caught up to a letter-high fastball from Milwaukee starter Randy Wolf and deposited it over the wall in left field for a 3-0 advantage.
The Brewers finally erased their goose-egg in the sixth with a two-out rally. After Hart and Aoki grounded out, Braun beat out an infield single and Ramirez followed with a two-base hit down into the right field corner, which allowed a hustling Braun to score from first to cut the deficit to 3-1.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Game Notes
The Giants began a seven-game road trip in which they will also travel to Miami...The Giants have won 14 of their last 21 games against the Brewers...San Francisco improved to 9-4 this season when facing an opposing left-handed starting pitcher...Milwaukee fell to 10-12 at home this season...Bumgarner allowed three runs -- one earned -- on five hits and a walk while fanning a season-high 10 over 7 2/3 innings...Wolf gave up three runs on five hits and three walks while whiffing four in seven frames.