Big hits, bullpen back Manaea's first Giants win

SAN FRANCISCO -- Thursday’s off-day wasn’t enough to get the Giants fully back to 100 percent following their challenging five-game road trip to Mexico City and Houston, but they still found a way to sustain their modest winning streak.

J.D. Davis and Wilmer Flores homered, and Joc Pederson delivered a two-run, go-ahead single off Corbin Burnes in the fifth inning to lift the Giants to a 6-4 win over the Brewers in Friday night’s series opener at Oracle Park.

The Giants -- a few of whom were still recovering from a stomach virus that led to team-wide gastrointestinal issues on the road -- trailed 4-2 entering the bottom of the fifth, but they managed to erase the deficit with a three-run rally against Burnes, the 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner.

Brett Wisely singled, and Cal Stevenson reached on a throwing error by Brewers shortstop Willy Adames to put runners on second and third with one out. Burnes struck out LaMonte Wade Jr. looking on a 3-2 cutter that appeared to be off the plate, but he couldn’t handle Thairo Estrada’s high chopper back to the mound, allowing Wisely to score and bring the Giants within one.

Davis then walked to load the bases for Pederson, who smoked a two-run single to right-center field to put the Giants ahead for good.

San Francisco’s bullpen delivered four shutout innings behind starter Sean Manaea to lock down the club’s third consecutive win, with closer Camilo Doval working a scoreless ninth to convert his third save in as many games.

Here are three takeaways as the Giants improved to 14-17:

1. Manaea’s night

The Brewers entered Friday with a .605 OPS against lefties this season -- the lowest mark in the Majors -- but they jumped out to an early lead by scoring two runs off Manaea in the top of the first. William Contreras led off with a double, advanced to third on a single by Owen Miller and then scored on Willy Adames’ RBI knock to put Milwaukee on the board.

Manaea got Christian Yelich to bounce into a 4-6-3 double play, but he issued a two-out walk to Brian Anderson to extend the inning. The 31-year-old veteran picked off Anderson for the third out, but Anderson managed to prolong the rundown long enough to allow Miller to score from third.

The Brewers scored two more runs off Manaea in the fifth with the help of a costly error by catcher Joey Bart, who airmailed a backpick attempt to third base with runners on second and third and one out. Still, Manaea ended up being credited with his first win for the Giants after giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits over five innings in his seventh appearance of the year.

“It took a little bit longer than I expected, but it was a great first win,” Manaea said. “It’s definitely something to build off of.”

2. Davis flashes opposite-field power

Not many right-handed hitters hit opposite-field home runs at Oracle Park, but Davis did just that in the bottom of the first. After Wade drew a leadoff walk, Davis blasted a first-pitch cutter from Burnes 364 feet to the right-field arcade to tie the game, 2-2, and collect his team-high seventh home run of the year.

“I thought it was going to be a double off the wall,” Davis said. “Then it ended up just kind of sailing and getting a little bit more backspin than I thought. We were fortunate enough to get that home run and tie the game and it was a brand new game against a Cy Young winner, which was exactly what we needed.”

No right-handed hitter has ever homered into McCovey Cove, but Davis said his goal is to become the first to accomplish the feat -- especially now that the splash hit counter is sitting at 99.

“I think I’m capable of doing it,” Davis said. “But I’ve just got to wait on the right pitch and not try to get too big. Things happen when you stay short to the baseball.”

3. Welcome relief
The Giants bullpen entered Friday with a NL-high 6.26 ERA, but the unit got back on track with a lights-out performance against the Brewers. John Brebbia struck out two in a clean sixth before passing the baton to Tyler Rogers, who allowed only one hit over two scoreless innings.

Doval struck out two more before shutting the door in the ninth, lowering his ERA to 2.57 over 14 appearances this year.

“Definitely a head of steam right now,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “I feel good about the direction our bullpen is going, and a lot of that is kind of on the back of the guys that you saw pitch tonight.”