MILWAUKEE _ If the season played out as the Giants front office expected, Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria would be the leaders of a revitalized offense, Austin Jackson would have crushed left-handed pitchers again and Derek Holland would be finishing up a nice year as a long reliever.
Expectations called for the Giants to contend in September, but instead the club is 0-6 in the final month of the season and a season-worst six games under .500 after dropping a 4-2 series opener to the Brewers.
With their sixth straight defeat, the Giants tied their longest losing streak of the season and found a way to drop a game after giving up just three hits.
In the top of the ninth, manager Bruce Bochy was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Adam Hamari, who drew the ire of Giants catcher Nick Hundley for a called strike three Hundley felt was off the plate.
Earlier in the game, Hundley took a fastball that was clearly off the inside corner for a called strike in a 3-0 count and later popped out.
While the highest-profile offseason additions couldn't save the Giants in 2018, Holland has helped save the rotation. The unheralded left-hander couldn't score a big contract after he was released from the White Sox last September with a 6.20 ERA, but he'll head into free agency this year following one of the best extended stretches of his career.
Holland dropped his season ERA to 3.54 with six innings of two-run ball against playoff contenders, but another poor output from the Giants' offense and seventh inning mistakes from the bullpen cost the club a chance to win.
Right-hander Hunter Strickland entered in relief of Holland and promptly walked the first two hitters he faced. With one out, manager Bruce Bochy turned to left-hander Tony Watson to face MVP candidate Christian Yelich, who struck out looking.
But the Brewers aren't just talented, they're deep too. No. 3 hitter Jesus Aguilar drilled a two-out, two-run double into the right-center-field gap off Watson, who has allowed 18 hits and nine earned runs in his last 16 innings.
The Giants overcame an early 2-0 deficit with help from Alen Hanson, who went 124 at-bats without homering until he launched a pinch-hit, game-tying two-run shot into the right-field bleachers at Coors Field Monday. It didn't take him long to hit his next, though, as Hanson tied Friday's game in Milwaukee with a solo shot off Brewers starter Chase Anderson in the top of the fifth.
While Hanson earned the start at shortstop Friday, he's showed enough offensively that the Giants may consider him for a bigger role, particularly at second base, next season.
The Giants scored their first run an inning before as rookie Chris Shaw drove in Evan Longoria with an RBI groundout, but they failed to capitalize on chances in the second and third with runners in scoring position.
Hanson's homer against the Brewers ensured Anderson left with a no-decision, as Holland outlasted him by pitching one more inning.
The veteran left-hander allowed a two-out, two-run homer to Milwaukee left fielder Ryan Braun in the first, but didn't allow another hit the rest of the night. Despite walking five Brewers, including three in the bottom of the sixth, Holland prevented the home team from scoring over his final five innings of work.
With a no-decision Friday, Holland has yet to be charged with a loss since the All-Star break and owns a 2.45 ERA during that span. The pending free agent could have certainly helped a contending club's rotation down the stretch, but the Giants hung onto Holland and stand to benefit if they're able to re-sign him this offseason.
While the emergences of rookies Dereck Rodriguez and Andrew Suarez have provided the Giants with a sense of hope for the future of their rotation, Holland is in the midst of a career year and deserves credit for stabilizing a starting staff that lost Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija for multiple months.
