SAN FRANCISCO -- The Brewers' hottest hitter and steadiest starting pitcher combined to overshadow the arrival of the team's new big bat. Mike Moustakas was happy to play a supporting role.
Christian Yelich extended his hitting streak to a dozen games with a home run and three RBIs, and Jhoulys Chacin carried a no-hitter into the sixth on the way to pitching seven strong innings for a 7-1 win over the Giants on Saturday at AT&T Park, where the Brewers sealed a series victory for the first time in eight years.
Before taking the first three of these four games, the Brewers' last series win here was in September 2010, when Lorenzo Cain was a 24-year-old rookie getting his first taste of Major League Baseball. Now he's a 32-year-old veteran back for a second stint with his original team, and he tallied four hits Saturday as Milwaukee climbed back within a half-game of the National League Central-leading Cubs.
The Brewers have won six of their last eight games following a seven-game losing streak.
"I told you guys it was going to be all right," said Yelich. "I know when you go through those skids it doesn't feel like it's going to be all right or ever going to change. But it does.
"I feel like that's pretty far behind us now, but we have to keep going. We have to keep doing it."
Chacin (10-3) was stellar on the way to becoming the first Brewers pitcher to reach double-digit victories. His missed the strike zone with his first two pitches, including a splitter that struck Andrew McCutchen. But catcher Erik Kratz threw out McCutchen attempting a delayed steal and Chacin shifted into cruise control, holding San Francisco to a lone walk and no hits until Nick Hundley homered leading off the sixth inning.
Did Chacin notice he hadn't allowed a hit?
"I feel like after six innings, maybe that's when you start feeling it," he said. "I was just trying to get quick outs."
"After the first strike he threw," said manager Craig Counsell, "he had control of the game."
Chacin allowed that run on three hits while matching his season high with seven innings, and by the time the Giants found their way onto the scoreboard, the Brewers had a healthy lead. Yelich's two-run single capped a three-run second-inning rally against Giants starter Johnny Cueto, then Yelich greeted Cueto's replacement, Ty Blach, with a home run leading off a two-run Brewers fifth.
Yelich's two hits boosted him to 26-for-50 (.520) with four home runs during his 12-game hitting streak and 35-for-78 (.449) while hitting safely in 17 of his last 18 games. Not to mention his home run in the All-Star Game.
"The opposite-field home run, the center-field home run [in Thursday's series opener], just the consistent hard contact, he's locked in," said Counsell. "He's in a really good place."
Moustakas, acquired in a trade with the Royals late Friday, went 1-for-5 in his Brewers debut with a single in the fifth. Orlando Arcia reached safely three times including a pair of singles and an RBI.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Travis Shaw looked pretty good for a 6-foot-4, 230-pound second baseman in the first appearance of his life at the position. Shaw, who moved to second to accommodate Moustakas' arrival, made his first two plays on the left side of the infield as part of Brewers shifts, but earned his first star in the scorebook from the right side in the seventh when he ranged back for a Brandon Crawford popup and made an over-the-shoulder catch.
"Big day for my UZR," Shaw cracked, referring to an advanced measure of defense known as ultimate zone rating.
He added, "The only thing I'm anxious about is that first double-play turn. I want to get one of those out of the way. I felt comfortable over there, didn't feel out of place."
Counsell said Moustakas also took grounders at second base Saturday afternoon and looked proficient. He believes the Brewers are covered at the position.
"We're not going to try to do everything in one day," Counsell said. "We're going to let [Shaw] take steps in this thing and not overwhelm him. Let him be a baseball player. He's good at being a baseball player."
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS, TOO
Yelich's S318 model Louisville Slugger died an honorable death when it cracked on his two-run single in the second inning -- the hit that stood as the game-winner. Yelich just happened to have a conversation about that bat with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Todd Rosiak on Saturday afternoon, saying he'd been using it since the Brewers' May 18-20 series at Minnesota.
After the game, Yelich feigned anger and gave the reporter a long, cold look. Then he pulled the bat from his locker and showed off the crack running down its handle.
HE SAID IT
"We've played a good series here, and we've got a chance to finish and make it a great series [Sunday]." -- Counsell
UP NEXT
Junior Guerra will be on the mound Sunday as the Brewers seek their second four-game series sweep this season (they also swept Miami in four games at Miller Park in April). Guerra has held opponents to a .233 average this season and led the Brewers to victories in 11 of his first 19 starts. Left-hander Andrew Suarez starts for San Francisco at 3:05 p.m. CT. \