San Francisco Giants (26-20) at Milwaukee Brewers (16-30), 8:10 p.m. (ET)
(SportsNetwork.com) - Madison Bumgarner used his arm and his bat to pick up a second straight victory last week and he gets the call for the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night in the middle contest of a three-game set with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Bumgarner faced Los Angeles Dodgers hurler Clayton Kershaw for the third time this season last Thursday and got the better of the reigning MVP again, taking Kershaw deep for a solo homer while also scattering seven hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings. He walked two and fanned six, improving to 5-2 with a 2.84 earned run average this season.
"He's the best pitcher in baseball," Bumgarner said of Kershaw. "To be able to do that and run into one, it's pretty special."
The left-hander has won four of his past five starts and is 4-2 lifetime versus the Brewers with a stingy 1.65 ERA in seven meetings.
Getting the start for the Brewers will be Matt Garza, who has struggled to three straight losing decisions.
Garza was hammered for 10 runs over 3 1/3 innings at the New York Mets on May 16, then dropped a second start in a row on Thursday in Atlanta. The righty was charged with four runs on five hits and two walks over 6 1/3 frames, falling to 2-6 with a 5.71 ERA on the season.
The 31-year-old Garza has split two career meetings with the Giants, posting a 2.84 ERA. He has allowed four runs over 12 2/3 innings in this matchup with 12 strikeouts.
Though the Brewers hit three home runs off Giants starter Tim Lincecum in Monday's opener, San Francisco scored seven times in the sixth inning to erase a three-run deficit and record an 8-4 victory.
Nori Aoki led the Giants against his former club with four hits, two runs scored, two runs driven in and a steal, while Hunter Pence added three hits and two RBI.
Lincecum minimized the damage to four runs over his five innings and picked up the victory as Jeremy Affeldt and Hunter Strickland combined to hold Milwaukee scoreless over the final four innings.
San Francisco snapped a two-game slide and won for the ninth time in 11 games.
Khris Davis had three of Milwaukee's five hits, going deep twice in the loss. Ryan Braun added a two-run homer as the Brewers lost their third in a row and for the fifth time in six games.
Kyle Lohse was charged with five runs on six hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings, and Jeremy Jeffress was tagged for three runs in relief without recording an out.
"It feels like we've had too many of those innings lately," said Brewers manager Craig Counsell of the Giants' game-changing frame. "You're not going to win games giving up fix, six or seven runs in an inning.
San Francisco won four of six meetings against the Brewers last season.