Giants explode late to beat Braves 8-3

Shelby Miller was in line to win with six outs to go. Instead, he'll have to wait another start.

Atlanta's one-run lead in the eighth inning evaporated quickly as the Giants pushed across six runs over the final two innings against the Braves bullpen to deny Shelby Miller another chance at a win. The Giants win the second game of this three-game series 8-3.

Unlike yesterday's slugfest, this game featured Miller and Jake Peavy in a pitcher's duel. The Giants scored one in the first; the Braves tied them with one of their own in the third and the score remained tied until the sixth when a mental error cost the Braves a run.

The bases were loaded in the top of the sixth when Hunter Pence grounded out to Chris Johnson at first base. That would've been fine and well, but Johnson forgot the number of outs and took the out himself at first base instead of turning an inning-ending double play. That mental mistake gave the Giants a 2-1 lead.

Atlanta's offense, fortunately, would turn the score around in the seventh with three straight one-out singles to re-tie the score against the Giants bullpen; some clever baserunning by Pedro Ciriaco on a groundout allowed Daniel Castro to score the go-ahead run. Shelby Miller, at long last, had a lead.

Alas, the bullpen would prove inept yet again. The combination of Ross Detwiler and David Aardsma coughed up four runs in the eighth, punctuated by Hunter Pence's three-run homer. Two more runs would score in the ninth to put the proverbial nail in the coffin.

Pence had four RBI; Matt Duffy had four hits, and Gregor Blanco scored four runs for the Giants. Daniel Castro had a three-hit game for the Braves. Peavy struck out eight in six innings.

Win Expectancy