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The Giants’ playoff hopes are all but officially gone. With a 4-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Giants (68-74) sit six games below .500, the team’s lowest mark of the season.
By the end of the game, Bruce Bochy found himself ejected. After Nick Hundley struck out looking for the second out of the ninth inning, Hundley appeared incensed with home plate umpire Adam Hamari. As Hundley headed into the dugout, Bochy jogged out and argued what seemed to be an inconsistent strike zone from Hamari all game before he was thrown out.
Bochy gets tossed and the Giants drop the first game in Milwaukee 4-2.
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Derek Holland spoke earlier this season of “the curse of the seventh inning.” Holland was speaking about the fact that he’s been unable to pitch seven complete innings this year. That was the case again on Friday, as Holland pitched another solid six innings, allowing just two runs and two hits.
The only blemish on Holland’s day was a two-run home run from Ryan Braun in the first inning. From there, he no-hit the Brewers through his next five innings, although he did walk five batters (one intentional).
But that seventh-inning curse Holland spoke of took form in a different way on Friday. Hunter Strickland replaced Holland in the seventh, walking his first two batters before drawing a fly-ball out. With a pair of runners on base, Tony Watson relieved Strickland to strike out the always dangerous Christian Yelich.
With two outs, Jesus Aguilar stepped up to torment the Giants, ripping a double to right-center field to score both runs and give the Brewers a 4-2 lead. The RBI pair moved Aguilar to third overall in the National League with 97 RBIs on the year.
Despite those four runs, the Brewers had a meager three hits in the game. They managed baserunners without issue, however, thanks to eight walks (one intentional) and an error by Joe Panik.
The Giants put both of their runs on the board in the fourth and fifth innings. A ground out from Chris Shaw in the fourth scored Evan Longoria from third, while a solo shot from Alen Hanson (eighth of the season) tied the game at two. The draw failed to hold for long after Holland departed the game.