Giants Smash Brewers 15-5
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) -- Pablo Sandoval hit a two-run homer among his three RBIs and finished a double shy of the cycle, powering the San Francisco Giants past the Milwaukee Brewers 15-5 on Sunday to match a season high with their sixth straight win.
Madison Bumgarner (16-9) followed up his one-hit gem Tuesday against Colorado with seven strikeouts in six innings to win his third straight start. The left-hander finished August at 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA.
Hunter Pence extended his NL-leading hitting streak to 13 games with a third-inning RBI double, the first of his four hits. He doubled again in the fifth and added a seventh-inning triple.
The Brewers lost their season-high fifth straight road game and dropped into a tie for the NL Central lead with St. Louis. It's the first time since July 20 that they don't have sole possession of the division lead.
Milwaukee has held at least a share of the lead every day since April 5.
Martin Maldonado homered off Giants reliever George Kontos in the seventh, but the Brewers were swept at AT&T Park for the first time since Aug. 24-26, 2007. Milwaukee was outscored 31-8 in the series. Ryan Braun homered in the eighth.
Kyle Lohse (12-8) allowed seven runs and nine hits in 5 2-3 innings for his fourth defeat in five decisions.
Backup catcher Andrew Susac was given a start and went 3 for 4 with three RBIs, including a two-run double and an RBI double. Joe Panik had a two-run triple as San Francisco earned its fifth series sweep this year. The Giants have a season-best six-game winning streak at AT&T Park.
The Brewers briefly took a lead in the first when Braun grounded into a run-scoring double play. Bumgarner was unscathed otherwise, allowing five hits with one walk.
San Francisco's starting pitchers combined for a 1.07 ERA with 57 strikeouts and seven walks on the 6-1 homestand.
Sandoval tripled to start the second. He walked in a seven-run seventh, his first shot at the cycle. Fans chanted "Double!" but he flied out later in the inning.
Tim Lincecum pitched the eighth and ninth, his first relief outing since he was pulled out of the rotation last Monday.
EXTRA BASES
The Giants' 10 extra-base hits were their most in the 15-year ballpark's history. They twice had nine. Sunday's total included six doubles, and it was their first game with 10 extra-base hits at home since Sept. 22, 1998, against the Pirates at Candlestick Park.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Brewers: Leadoff man and CF Carlos Gomez left in the third with left wrist soreness. Gerardo Parra replaced him. ... The Brewers' beat-up and taxed bullpen gets a boost with the addition of Jonathan Broxton on Monday in Chicago. Milwaukee acquired the right-handed reliever Sunday from the Reds to serve as an experienced setup man for the stretch run.
Giants: C Buster Posey got the afternoon off, a day after he took a foul tip off the right forearm and also a couple of others Saturday night. "Buster needs a day," manager Bruce Bochy said. "He's just got general soreness."
UP NEXT
Brewers: RHP Jimmy Nelson (2-5, 4.10 ERA) pitches the series opener against the Cubs. He is looking to snap an 0-3 stretch over his last four starts.
Giants: San Francisco will resume its suspended May 22 game with the Rockies at Coors Field, using a new pitcher and lineup because rosters changed for both clubs since that day. The teams will have expanded rosters available. The game, suspended by weather, is tied 2-all with two outs and a runner on first in the bottom of the sixth.
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