Peralta pitches 6 scoreless innings, Contreras homers as Brewers beat Giants 5-3

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Freddy Peralta pitched six scoreless innings, William Contreras capped a five-run fifth inning with a two-run homer and the Milwaukee Brewers hung on to beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3 on Wednesday night.

Peralta (9-7) allowed two walks and Thairo Estrada’s base hit through five innings as the Brewers built a 5-0 lead. The Giants threatened in the sixth with a two-out single by Tyler Fitzgerald and a walk before Peralta struck out Heliot Ramos and let out a scream as he walked from the mound.

“It was an exciting moment for me," Peralta said after he struck out eight, allowed only two hits and walked three. “The last couple of games I didn’t have my normal strikeouts. Fastball was the key today.”

“Freddy was fantastic,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “William did a great job with him. I liked how he stayed after it.”

Contreras echoed those sentiments.

“I like his execution,” Contreras said through an interpreter. “He came out early and was attacking the zone. It's what I always tell him, ‘Just get after it and attack the zone.’"

Kyle Harrison (7-6) allowed a one-out single to Blake Perkins in the first inning and then retired 11 of the next 12 batters before the Brewers broke through in the fifth.

“It just happened quickly on him,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. "Shoot, I thought at the time that he might go six innings. They got three pretty good at-bats off him in a row, unfortunately, and it added up to five runs.”

Jackson Chourio’s RBI base single started the scoring, all with two outs. After a mound visit, Perkins drilled a two-run double off the wall in left-center. Contreras crushed the first-pitch changeup from the rookie left hander for his 18th home run of the season. That was it for Harrison, who left after striking out seven and walking three in his 23rd start of the season.

“We weren't great offensively except for that one little stretch,” Murphy said. “Contreras put an exclamation point on it."

Milwaukee's Devin Williams bounced back from his first blown save last Wednesday at St. Louis with a 1-2-3 ninth for his sixth save in seven chances. He was reinstated July 28 after missing 104 games with a stress fracture in his back.

The Brewers moved to within 1 1/2 games of the Philadelphia Phillies for the second seed in the NL playoffs and two games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top spot.

The Giants spoiled the shutout bid with a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth.

Matt Chapman doubled off Trevor Megill, advanced on a ground out and scored Estrada’s base hit, his second of the game.

Michael Conforto snapped a 4 for 30 stretch with a run-scoring double and Ramos tacked on another run with a base hit in the eighth, all off Jared Koenig.

“When you have a five-run inning, that can deflate you a little bit, but we came back against some really good bullpen arms and scored three runs,” Melvin said. "Made it a game.”

San Francisco came in having won seven of the last 10 games at American Family Field and nine of the last 14 overall dating to 2019.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Giants: C Patrick Bailey (right oblique strain) is with the club and could be activated from the 10-day injured list on Thursday.

Brewers: LHP Hoby Milner (left shoulder impingement) looks to begin a rehab assignment Aug. 30 with High-A Wisconsin.

UP NEXT

RHP Hayden Birdsong (3-3, 4.57 ERA) starts for the Giants and RHP Aaron Civale (4-8, 4.84) goes for the Brewers when the three-game series concludes Thursday afternoon.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Milwaukee Brewers' Jackson Chourio reacts after his run-scoring single during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Brewers' Jackson Chourio reacts after his run-scoring single during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Willy Peralta reacts after striking out a San Francisco Giants batter to end the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Brewers' William Contreras reacts after his two-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Brewers' William Contreras reacts after his two-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta (51) throws to the San Francisco Giants during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta (51) throws to the San Francisco Giants during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

PHOENIX (AP) — Rhys Hoskins hit a two-run homer, Freddy Peralta pitched five effective innings and the Milwaukee Brewers increased their NL Central lead with a 2-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.

Hoskins hit his 24th homer off Eduardo Rodriguez (2-3) in the fourth inning and five Milwaukee pitchers shut down baseball’s highest-scoring offense. Peralta (11-8) allowed a run on six hits and Devin Williams worked a perfect ninth for his 12th save in 13 opportunities.

The Brewers extended their NL Central lead to 10 games after the Chicago Cubs lost 9-5 to Colorado.

“Freddy wasn’t his best self, but he bobbed and weaved, gave us five,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “We got some big outs at the end. The bullpen was really good.”

Arizona was limited to six hits to drop into a tie with San Diego for the top NL wild-card spot. The Diamondbacks remain five games back of Los Angeles in the NL West following the Dodgers' 6-2 loss to Atlanta.

“Ww built some innings, but we just couldn't get that big hit,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “We couldn't get into that space where we had the slug that broke the game open.”

Both starters were sharp.

Peralta walked two in the first inning and gave up a run on Pavin Smith’s sacrifice fly and worked around traffic the rest of his outing. The right-hander had five strikeouts and four walks in his second straight season with 30 starts.

“My goal from the begining was to put up zeroes, whether it was four innings or seven,” Peralta said. “I know the guys behind me are going to do it — our bullpen is great.”

Rodriguez struck out seven through the first three innings before Hoskins hit a two-run homer off the base of the second deck in the fourth. It was the only two runs the left-hander allowed on five hits in five innings, with seven strikeouts and three walks.

“I felt pretty good. The only pitch I felt I missed was a sinker and when you miss a pitch, you pay for it,” Rodriguez said. “The last three or four games I've missed a pitch to the wrong guy and paid for it.”

The Brewers helped Rodriguez with shoddy baserunning.

Jackson Chourio got picked off first by Rodriguez in the third inning and a throw behind Garrett Mitchell by Arizona catcher Jose Herrera led to a forceout at third after a rundown.

“Those guys don’t have a full year in the major leagues and we’re an aggressive team, so it’s going to happen,” Murphy said.

TRAINER'S TABLE

Diamondbacks: C Gabriel Moreno (groin) is expected to be activated from the injured list early next week. ... OF Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (left calf) also could be back in the lineup later in the week.

UP NEXT

Brewers RHP Tobias Myers (7-5, 2.93 ERA) was set to face RHP Brandon Pfaadt (9-8, 4.42) on Saturday.

AP MLB: https://www.apnews.com/hub/MLB

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning during a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez throws against the Milwaukee Brewers in the first inning during a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Milwaukee Brewers' Rhys Hoskins (12) celebrates with teammates after hitting a two-run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fourth inning during a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Milwaukee Brewers' Jackson Chourio hits a double against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning during a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Milwaukee Brewers third base Joey Ortiz, left, tags out Arizona Diamondbacks' Christian Walker trying to advance in the third inning during a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)