San Francisco Giants

Brewers add bullpen help amid series against Giants (Jul 27, 2018)

Published Jul. 27, 2018 2:55 a.m. ET

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SAN FRANCISCO -- The Milwaukee Brewers hope to debut their new weapon, reliever Joakim Soria, when they seek a second straight victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.

All-Star Josh Hader, setup man Jeremy Jeffress and closer Corey Knebel combined to throw 69 pitches over the final 3 1/3 innings in Thursday's series-opening, 7-5 victory over the Giants in the matchup of National League playoff contenders.

Soria, acquired Thursday for a pair of minor-leaguers, arrives at an ideal time from the Chicago White Sox, where he had 16 saves and a 2.56 ERA.

"We're pleased to be able to trade for someone like Joakim Soria," Brewers general manager David Stearns said of the deal. "He's another quality arm that we can add to an already strong and deep bullpen. His experience in pitching in high-leverage situations at the back end of games will add to a group that has effectively handled some close games this year."

One such game was the series opener, in which Hader entered a 2-2 contest in the last of the sixth and retired four of the five men he faced. The only non-out was the Giants' Steven Duggar reaching base on an error.

Jeffress and Knebel both struggled to finish up over the final two innings, but a clutch pinch-hit single by Ryan Braun and two-run home run by Travis Shaw helped the Brewers torch the San Francisco bullpen for five runs in the last two innings to create a lead and also a cushion.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy had no issues with his bullpen, claiming Mark Melancon, who got the loss after allowing two runs in the eighth, pitched better than the decision would indicate.

"Mark just had buzzard's luck tonight," Bochy said of an inning that began with a routine grounder to inexperienced first baseman Austin Slater that took a bad hop and went for a hit.

Slater was replacing injured Brandon Belt, who hyperextended his left knee Wednesday in Seattle and was placed on the disabled list.

"You get ground balls," Bochy continued, "you just hope they go to somebody."

Having snapped a six-game road losing streak, the Brewers (59-46) will be looking to put more distance between themselves and the Giants (52-52) in the playoff race when Milwaukee right-hander Chase Anderson (6-7, 3.81 ERA) opposes Madison Bumgarner (3-3, 3.19).

Anderson has pitched in tough luck in July, going winless in four starts despite having allowed just five earned runs in 20 1/3 innings.

He is 2-2 with a 5.68 ERA in five career starts against the Giants.

Buster Posey, a candidate to move out from behind the plate during this series to help fill the void at first base left by Belt's injury, has hit .417 (5-for-12) with a double and four RBIs in his head-to-heads with Anderson.

Bumgarner, meanwhile, has fashioned an impressive 7-2 record and 2.25 ERA in 10 career starts against the Brewers despite serving up a pair of home runs to Braun.

The staff ace had won two straight starts before having trouble finding the plate in his last outing, walking six in four innings in a 4-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics.

The Brewers will be looking to improve upon their 13-4 record against the NL West. Thursday's game was their first of 14 straight against West clubs.

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