Milwaukee Brewers Jackson Chourio reaction after hitting a RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning against the San Francisco Giants at American Family Park in Milwaukee on Tue Aug 27, 2024 (AP News photo)

Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024

American Family Field

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

San Francisco Giants 3 (67-67)

Milwaukee Brewers 5 (76-56)

Win: Freddy Peralta (9-7)

Loss: Kyle Harrison (6-7)

Save: Devin Williams (6)

Time: 2:43

Attendance: 23,247

By Stephen Ruderman

A five-run bottom of the fifth inning for the Brewers did Kyle Harrison and the Giants in, as despite the offense scoring three runs late, they ultimately fell 5-3 in Milwaukee to fall to six and a half games back of the third wild card with 28 games to go.

So far this road trip has been loss-win-loss-win. After losing two out of three to the Mariners in Seattle over the weekend, the Giants hit three home runs and a manufactured run enroute to a big 5-4 win in the series opener at American Family Field Tuesday night.

The Giants came into Wednesday night a game over .500 at 67-66, and five and a half games back of the Braves for the third wild card spot in the National League. That means win-loss-win-loss would not cut it. They had to start stringing together as many wins as possible, and they really had to start consistently hitting with runners and scoring position.

The Giants would be up against Freddy Peralta, who made the start for the Brewers Wednesday night. LaMonte Wade led off the game with a walk, but two batters later, Michael Conforto grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Kyle Harrison took the ball for the Giants, as he made his first start since his six-inning performance against the Chicago White Sox last Monday. Harrison started his outing tonight with a scoreless bottom of the first inning.

The game went along smoothly over the first four and a half innings, as Peralta set 14 of the first 17 hitters he faced, and Harrison gave up just one hit retired 12 of the first 14 men he faced. Harrison was also helped out by an incredible play by shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald in the bottom of the second, as well as a great catch by Michael Conforto in the bottom of the third.

Harrison made it 13 out of 15 when struck Rhys Hoskins out looking on a slurve to start the bottom of the fifth. Andrew Monasterio walked and stole second base, but Harrison struck Joey Ortiz out swinging for the second out.

Harrison was cruising, but all of the sudden out of nowhere, he just fell apart. Sal Frelick walked, and Jackson Chourio broke the ice with a base-hit the other way to right field, which knocked in Monasterio to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead.

Blake Perkins knocked in a pair with a double off the bottom of the wall in left to make it 3-0. William Contreras then hit a home run to left-center, and the Brewers had suddenly gotten to Harrison for five runs on three-straight hits to knock him out of the game.

Harrison was dealing through four and two thirds innings, as he struck out seven, but the sudden onslaught of three-straight hits and five runs made his start a completely different story. Sean Hjelle then came in and got Wily Adames to fly out to end the inning.

Peralta came back out for the sixth and retired the first two men he faced. The Giants then made some noise with two outs when Fitzgerald hit an opposite-field single to right and Conforto walked. However, Heliot Ramos struck out to end the inning, and the Giants wasted another opportunity.

Peralta threw six shutout innings and struck out eight. He retired 17 of the 22 batters he faced.

Austin Warren made his Giants’ debut with a scoreless bottom of the sixth inning, and the Giants would finally have some luck against Trevor Megill in the top of the seventh.

Matt Chapman led off the top of the seventh with a double and advanced to third on a ground out by Mike Yastrzemski. Thairo Estrada finally got the Giants’ first RBI hit with a runner in scoring position since Saturday with an infield hit deep into the hole at third, and Chapman scored to put the Giants on the board.

Warren came back out to throw a scoreless inning in the bottom of the seventh, and Brewers Manager Pat Murphy summoned Jared Koeing for the top of the eighth. Koeing struck out the first two guys he faced, and then the Giants would put a two-out rally together.

Fitzgerald lined a base-hit to center, and Conforto hit an opposite-field double that bounced off the wall in left to knock Fitzgerald in and make it 5-2. Ramos then lined a base-hit to left-center, and suddenly, it was a 5-3 game.

Despite their struggles with runners in scoring position, you still have to give the Giants’ offense credit. They have been resilient and have grinded it out all season. They have never believed they were out of a game, and they were in a good position to pull off a big comeback Wednesday night.

Spencer Bivens got out of a jam in scoreless bottom of the eighth, but Devin Williams thwarted any hopes of a Giants’ comeback with a one, two, three top of the ninth, and the Brewers won 5-3.

Freddy Peralta got the win; Kyle Harrison got saddled with what truly was a sudden loss; and Devin Williams got his sixth save of the year.

The Giants fall back to .500 at 67-67, and with the Braves’ 5-1 win over the Twins in Minneapolis, the Giants are now a season-high six and a half games out of the nearest playoff spot with 28 games to go.

Time is truly now running out for the Giants, and if they want to have any hope of making a last-minute run in September, they need to start winning now.

The Giants can still take the series with a win Thursday. Hayden Birdsong (3-3, 4.57 ERA) will look to be the stopper, and he will be opposed by Aaron Civale (4-8, 4.84 ERA), who will take the ball for the Brewers. First pitch will be at 1:10 p.m. in Milwaukee, and 11:10 a.m. back home in San Francisco.

Giants News and Notes:

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Prior the Giants placed Thairo Estrada, Taylor Rogers and Tyler Matzek on waivers prior to the game. They will be available to any team that wants to pay the remainder of their 2024 salaries.