Fourteen Inning Marathon Does Not End In Brewers Favor, Fall to Giants 4-3

WP: Santiago Casilla (1-2)
LP: Juan Perez (0-1)

HR: Buster Posey (5), Ryan Braun (12), Hector Sanchez (2)

MVP: Ryan Braun (+.360)
LVP: Juan Perez (-.306)

Win Expectancy Graph and Star of the Game Voting

What looked like a blowout early turned into a heartbreaking marathon of a game.

The Giants got the first runs of the game quick tonight thanks to a three-run home run from Buster Posey. After that, the game became a pitcher's duel. Madison Bumgarner was on top of his game, but Randy Wolf settled down and was better after the first inning. Scoring opportunities were limited. The Brewers had the bases loaded with one out in the second inning, but Cesar Izturis grounded into a double play to end the inning. Their next opportunity came in the sixth inning. Ryan Braun hit a single to get on base with two outs, and an Aramis Ramirez RBI Double put them on the board and made it 3-1.

After the first inning, it looked like it would not be Randy Wolf's night. However, he followed up that rough first inning with six scoreless innings to keep the Brewers in the game. He finished the night with seven innings, allowing the three runs in the first inning but nothing else. He allowed five hits and three walks, but struck out four as well. Francisco Rodriguez followed him in the eighth inning and pitched around a hit and a walk with two strikeouts for a scoreless inning.

For most of the game, Madison Bumgarner was pitching as well as he could. Through the first seven innings, he had allowed only one run. He came out for the eight and recorded the first two outs, and was on his way out of the eighth inning but Brandon Crawford committed an error that allowed Norichika Aoki to reach base. Bruce Bochy stuck with Bumgarner at 106 pitches to pitch to Ryan Braun, and Braun made him pay. He hit a 1-2 slider out to left center field to tie the game at 3-3. Bumgarner finished the game with three runs allowed (only one earned) and five hits while striking out ten in 7.2 innings.

John Axford came out to pitch the ninth inning, and pitched around two walks for a scoreless inning. In the bottom of the ninth, George Kottaras drew a one-out walk from Jeremy Affeldt to put the winning run on base. However, Cesar Izturis flew out for the second out, and pinch-hitter Jonathan Lucroy flew out to right for the final out of the inning.

Extra innings came and the game returned to a pitcher's duel. Jose Veras came out to start extra innings and pitched two scoreless for the Brewers, retiring all six batters that he faced. Manny Parra followed him and also pitched two scoreless innings, working out of some trouble in the 12th inning and then pitching a perfect 13th inning. However, on the Giants side, Jeremy Affeldt, Clay Hensley, Javier Lopez, and Santiago Casilla matched them.

The Brewers brought Juan Perez in for the 14th inning, and he promptly gave up a solo home run to Hector Sanchez to give the Giants a 4-3 lead. He limited the damage to that one run, bringing the Brewers up for the bottom of the 14th. Kottaras and Izturis both recorded outs to start the inning, then Taylor Green singled to bring up Corey Hart. Hart had a good battle against Casilla, but he flew out to center field to end the game.

There was an injury note for today's game. Ryan Braun left the game after the bottom of the 10th, when he pulled something after an at-bat. The report from the Brewers is a tight right groin.

The series against the Giants continues tomorrow. Shaun Marcum starts for the Brewers, and Matt Cain is up for the Giants. First pitch is at 7:10 PM.