SAN FRANCISCO -- Kevin Pillar gave the Giants their first hit of the night with a two-out single against Brewers right-hander Zach Davies in the second inning. Minutes later, he was erased from the basepaths.

Pillar stole second base and then attempted to advance to third after watching catcher Yasmani Grandal’s throw skip past Orlando Arcia, but the ball was quickly corralled by Hernan Perez, who easily threw out Pillar at third to end the inning.

Still, Pillar later atoned for the baserunning miscue by launching a tie-breaking home run that helped lift the Giants to a 5-3 win over the National League Central-leading Brewers in Friday night’s series opener at Oracle Park. Pillar, who has homered in back-to-back games, finished 3-for-3 with two steals and two runs scored to spur the Giants to their third consecutive win and saddle Davies with his first loss of the season.

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“It’s always nice to go out and contribute,” Pillar said. “I feel like today was kind of the type of game I expect out of myself a little bit more. I don’t expect to be perfect at the plate all the time, but I have this mindset to go out and try to be the best player on the field every single day, whether that’s offensively, defensively, on the basepaths. It was just nice to kind of put [together] an all-around good game for myself."

Pablo Sandoval and rookie Mike Yastrzemski also homered to back left-hander Drew Pomeranz, who yielded two unearned runs over five innings. After posting an 8.08 ERA over his first 10 starts of the season, Pomeranz decided to raise his arm slot, which has led to no earned runs allowed in 10 innings over his last two outings.

The Brewers tied the game at 2 when Lorenzo Cain reached on an error by shortstop Brandon Crawford and scored on an RBI single by Christian Yelich in the fifth, but Pillar quickly restored the Giants’ lead in the bottom of the inning. Pillar hammered a 1-0 changeup from Davies over the left-center-field wall for his eighth home run of the season. Seven of those have come at Oracle Park, making him a rare San Francisco batter who hits better at home than on the road.

“Sometimes you get out of this place and you go to these small yards, maybe places where historically the ball travels well,” Pillar said. “We went to a couple of them this last road trip, Baltimore being one of them, and I think you have this tendency to want to do more. Here, I feel like I stay within myself. I try to stay gap to gap, and I’ve been able to hit some balls out of here.”

Pillar was also involved in an unusual play in the seventh. After collecting a leadoff single, Pillar took off for second on a pickoff attempt. He appeared to beat the throw to the bag, but the base came unmoored on his feet-first slide.

“You get there and the base is no longer there,” Pillar said. “It’s a stressful situation.”

Pillar was called safe by second-base umpire Chad Fairchild, a ruling that was upheld following a replay review. Yastrzremski followed with his first career pinch-hit home run to extend the Giants’ lead to 5-2.

Since being acquired from the Blue Jays on April 2, Pillar has seen his role with the Giants evolve. A natural center fielder, Pillar patrolled the middle of the outfield for his first month with San Francisco before being shifted to right. With the Giants increasingly looking toward the future, they decided to install fellow defensive stalwart Steven Duggar back in center to give him an extended look there.

Manager Bruce Bochy said earlier this week that he’d also like to incorporate Tyler Austin more into the outfield mix and give him a chance to start against right-handed pitchers, which could infringe on Pillar’s playing time. Still, the 30-year-old veteran has been willing to adapt to his new role and said he is gradually becoming more acclimated to right field.

“I feel like it’s still a transition in progress,” Pillar said. “Me being a center fielder by trade, the objective as an outfielder is to just go get the ball. I think that’s kind of what I made my living on, playing center field. As I played there longer, I definitely improved and became a good defender, and then I became an elite defender because I spent so much time out there. I spent so much time reading the swings, anticipating a lot of stuff. I’m starting to get those feelings a little bit more in right.”