Posey goes 5 for 5 in 6 innings, Giants rout Brews

JANIE McCAULEY
AP Baseball Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The way Buster Posey was swinging, manager Bruce Bochy figures he had at least one more hit in him.

Instead, they called it a night after Posey went 5 for 5 and drove in three runs in just six innings, leading the San Francisco Giants to a 13-2 rout of the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night for their fourth straight win.

“It would have been nice for him to go for six, but the rest was more important,” Bochy said.

Posey tripled in a pair of runs on the way to his second career five-hit game. The star catcher is batting .500 (20 for 40) with five home runs and 13 RBIs in his past nine games.

Gregor Blanco hit a two-run homer to back Ryan Vogelsong’s first victory in four starts. The Giants scored a season high in runs and have their longest winning streak since five straight victories in early June.

San Francisco took a half-game lead on St. Louis in the wild-card race.

“We’ve got a short way to go but a long way to go,” Vogelsong said.

Hunter Pence hit a trio of run-scoring singles, Joe Panik had four hits and Angel Pagan wound up a home run shy of the cycle.

The Giants’ 19 hits were their second most in the 15-year history of AT&T Park behind 20 on Aug. 14, 2001, against the Marlins.

Vogelsong (8-9) snapped an 0-5 skid at home, where he had received zero runs of support in each of his previous five outings at AT&T Park. He gave up two runs and four hits in seven innings.

Vogelsong’s run support was his most ever, and he ended a three-start winless stretch with just his third victory since June 21. The Giants had lost his last seven home games.

“I’ll take 13 all the time,” the pitcher said.

He worked on his curveball in the later innings and felt his off-speed stuff improved as he went along. The right-hander struck out the side in the seventh and his night was done.

Wily Peralta (15-9) was chased after a season-low three innings and lost for the third time in four starts. He surrendered six runs on nine hits, struck out one and walked two.

“Everything was off. I fell behind everybody,” Peralta said. “I just have to forget it.”

Pence extended the NL’s longest active hitting streak to 11 games with his first-inning RBI single.

The Giants scored in each of the first five innings at home for the first time since June 13, 2012, when Matt Cain pitched a perfect game.

“We are more loose and having fun again,” Blanco said.

PITCHER FRIENDLY PARK

Posey is one of six Giants to get five hits in a game at AT&T Park and the first to do so twice. Pence did so on July 24, 2013.

Posey is 11 for 22 so far on the five-game homestand.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Brewers: RHP Matt Garza pitched a simulated game in what likely was his final test before returning from the disabled list to the Brewers’ rotation next week. As long as Garza comes through the outing without further problems when he reports to AT&T Park on Saturday, he could start as soon as Thursday at home against St. Louis. Manager Ron Roenicke said Garza threw his fastball, slider and curveball effectively.

Giants: C Hector Sanchez hopes to have recovered well enough from two concussions to be able to play a month of winter ball back home in Venezuela, even if he is a designated hitter or 1B. Bochy is rooting for that scenario to give Sanchez more at-bats considering his time missed this season. He’s unlikely to play again in 2014.

UP NEXT

Brewers: RHP Mike Fiers (4-1, 1.54), 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA as a starter, makes his fifth start and ninth appearance in the middle game of the series. The Brewers’ next victory will match their season total from last year.

Giants: RHP Jake Peavy (2-4, 3.18) faces the Brewers for the third time this season looking for his first win after two outings while with Boston. … RHP Yusmeiro Petit, who set a major league record by retiring 46 consecutive batters, will remain in the rotation after his win Thursday pitching in place of struggling RHP Tim Lincecum.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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