Suddenly-surging Giants bash Brewers

AT&T PARK — The Giants capped off a dominant series Sunday afternoon with an emphatic 15-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers to complete a three-game sweep.

San Francisco outscored Milwaukee 31-8 in the series. Their 15 runs in Sunday’s game was a season-high.

The Giants statement series was capped an important home stand according to Manager Bruce Bochy:

“We’ve got a tough road trip ahead of us, two games tomorrow and Detroit before we come back. It was vital that we had a good home stand.”

The Giants took control of the game in the third when Angel Pagan singled, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error with one out. Hunter Pence drove Pagan in with a double to take a 2-1 lead.

The Giants tacked on two more with an RBI single from Pablo Sandoval and a sacrifice fly from Michael Morse to make it 4-1.

Sandoval dunked a two-run blast into McCovey Cove in the fifth to make it 6-1. The home run was his 15th of the season. He finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs, three runs, a walk and a double shy of the cycle.

Andrew Susac took advantage of Buster Posey‘s day off at catcher. Susac went 3-for-5 with three RBIs.

Bochy had only complimentary words for Susac:

“This kid’s done a great job up here. He does a nice job blocking balls, receiving the ball, throwing. He’s a threat at the plate too.”

Madison Bumgarner pitched six solid innings of one-run ball and seven strikeouts. Bumgarner (W, 16-9, 2.97 ERA) walked one in Sunday’s game for a total of three walks in the entire month of August.

Bochy talked about the quality starting pitching after Sunday’s game:

“You look at every start here this home stand, all of them were right on. They did such a tremendous job pitching. We go as our pitching goes.”

Brewers starter Kyle Lohse (L, 12-8, 3.68 ERA) struggled most of the day. He left after 5-2/3 innings, nine hits and seven earned runs.

The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 7-1 to maintain a 2-1/2-game lead over the Giants in the NL West. The St. Louis Cardinals won again Sunday to stay within one game of the Giants for the top wild card spot.

The Giants will start a seven-game road trip to begin September with a semi-doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies.

They will complete their suspended game from May 22 at 1:10 p.m. The game will resume in the bottom of the sixth with a runner on first, two outs and a 2-2 score.

After the Sunday’s game, Bochy said he had a good idea of which pitcher would start the suspended game, but wouldn’t announce it till the team landed in Colorado.

Juan Gutierrez is a likely candidate to take the mound in the suspended game having last pitched on Aug. 24 in Washington.

Bochy said he was also not at liberty to announce any call-ups joining the club when rosters expand tomorrow until he confirms it with Giants General Manager Brian Sabean.

Then, 20 to 30 minutes following the end of the suspended game, the Giants will play another full game against the Rockies with Tim Hudson (9-9, 2.90 ERA) pitching against lefty Franklin Morales (5-7, 5.14 ERA).

Notes

The Giants won their sixth-straight game, which matches their longest winning streak of the season (also won six straight from April 29-May 5). … Pence extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a double in the third. … The Giants recorded 10 extra-base hits in Sunday’s game, which is the most the team has ever hit inside AT&T Park.

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