San Francisco Giants extend winning streak to six, edge Milwaukee 4-2

Jun 25, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford (35) after scoring a run against the San Diego Padres during the fourth inning at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The Giants are streaky. No, it’s true. They are streaky, and we’re not being disloyal fans just because we have a firm grasp on the obvious, and we call ‘em as we see ‘em.

Lately, they’ve been on a hot streak that is causing some analysts to say, “well, duh, they’re the World Series champions. They should be winning.” Some are even saying the Giants are playing teams that aren’t that good‒of course the Giants are winning.

But even the teams with lousy records win once in awhile.

And even if all that is true, so then, is this: you can’t win ‘em all. Like I said the other day, all good things must come to an end, my friend.

But not just yet. Monday night the Giants kicked off a three game series against the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Giants came out on top.

Of course, the Brewers are another one of those “easy” wins‒they are hovering at the bottom of the NL Central. The last time the Giants met up with the Brewers, it was May and they were in Milwaukee. The Giants swept the Brewers at Miller Park. Fortunately, we didn’t see much of Bernie Brewer that trip.

Chris Heston was on the mound Monday night for the Giants, and he had some sparks of magic. He pitched seven solid innings, and he gave up two runs on five hits, three walks and four strike outs.

The Brewers made some noise in the sixth‒that’s when they picked up their two runs‒but the Giants put out the fire, leaving a Brewers runner standing on first when the inning ended.

The Giants offense can be summed up in two words: Brandon Crawford. Ok, maybe there are a few more words involved: Matt Duffy, Brandon Belt and Gregor Blanco. But Crawford was the brightest star in the Giants galaxy Monday night.

Duffy actually kicked off the scoring with a lead-off double in the fourth. Pence drew a walk and Belt hit a sac fly to bring Duffy home. Enter Crawford. He hit a fly ball to center field, clearing the wall and scoring two. This home run brings Crawford’s home run total for the season to 15‒just passing Buster Posey.

Crawford drew a walk to lead-off the eighth, and Gregor hit a fly ball to center field‒that seemed to be the go-to spot‒and Crawford came into home plate standing.

The Brewers didn’t go away quietly though. In the top of the ninth, behind two runs, the Brewers thought they should make a little more noise. And they did. Only this time they did it with the umpires’ and Giants help. Here’s what happened: Carlos Gomez, Milwaukee’s center fielder reached first on a base hit. It was originally scored E-3 (first baseman’s error) but the official scorer changed it.

With another Brewer at the plate, Gomez took off for second base. Buster fired an absolute bullet to Panik, who applied the tag on Gomez leg. The umpire called Gomez safe, and Bochy asked for a replay review. Ironically, he won a replay review decision in the eighth when Duffy attempted to steal second, and was called out. After review, the call on the field was overturned and Duffy was ruled safe.

Bochy prevailed on this replay review too. Panik clearly applied the tag, the call on the field was overturned and Gomez called out. Gomez, unhappy with the decision slammed his helmet into the ground and walked back to the dugout. On his way, he slammed his helmet into the ground again–this time the umpire yelled you’re outtahere for good, and ejected Gomez.

Of course, the Brewers manager, Craig Counsell, had to go out and argue for his guy and he won–his first ejection as a big-league manager, that is. Counsell left, but Gomez refused to leave, getting himself a cup of water and pacing about the dugout, throwing the stank eye at the umpire. Finally, after a couple of minutes of that, he strolled down to the exit tunnel and left. Play resumed.

With two outs, the Brewers second baseman, Scooter Gennett, doubled and took third when Sergio Romo threw a wild pitch with the shortstop batting. Fortunately the shortstop struck out and the game ended. The final score was: Giants 4, Brewers 2

Things are shaping up for the Giants right now. Yes, they’re streaky. They’ve won 12 of the last 13. Right now they’ve won six consecutive games. That’s what they call a streak.

Where I come from, or maybe I should say, when I come from, a streak meant something else altogether.

I hear there is a whole group of gamer babes with all kinds of signs waiting for Hunter Pence to streak.