MILWAUKEE _ Imagine if the Giants had a starting pitcher who took the mound with dominant stuff and struck out batters at a rate that squared with peak-career Tim Lincecum.
Now imagine if that pitcher had the kind of walk-averse command that Lincecum could only dream of possessing.
You don't have to squish brain cells. That pitcher exists. His name is Jeff Samardzija.
And because Aaron Hill came off the bench to hit a two-run double in the eighth inning of a 7-2 victory at Miller Park on Monday, the Giants were able to make a winner of Samardzija for just the second time in his 12 starts this season.
Samardzija was dominant yet again while striking out 10 in 7 2/3 innings against the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Giants rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to take the opener of a four-game series against the NL Central's pacesetting club.
For the sixth time in his last seven starts, Samardzija did not walk a batter. Over that span, he has an inhuman 59-to-1 K/BB ratio.
Fifty-nine. To one.
With 94 strikeouts in 12 starts, he is on pace to strike out 258 batters this season. Only Lincecum (265 and 261 in his Cy Young Award seasons of 2008-09) and Christy Mathewson (267 in 1903, 259 in 1908) have fanned more in a season in Giants lore.
Yet Samardzija (2-7) was on the hook for his eighth loss until Eduardo Nunez's tying home run in the fifth inning, and had no decision until Hill came through in the eighth. The Giants benefited from sloppy defense while adding three runs in the ninth and seal up a victory that sprayed aerosol over a rotten weekend in Philadelphia.
Samardzija took the mound in a ballpark that has been less fulfilling and does not leave a great taste. His 6.15 ERA at Miller Park ranked as the fifth highest among active pitchers to make at least a six-pack of starts here.
Samardzija also has struggled the most in the first inning, which happened to be when the Brewers have scored a heady 53 of their 284 runs this season (while outscoring opponents 53-17).
So perhaps it shouldn't have come as a surprise when, in Arthur Fonzarelli's hometown, the Brewers jumped the Shark.
Eric Sogard hit a leadoff double, Domingo Santana singled to put runners at the corners and then he swiped second base after getting a huge break on Samardzija. Eric Thames followed with a fly ball that left fielder Orlando Calixte caught on the foul line. Sogard did not attempt to score, and Calixte's strong throw proved it to be a wise decision.
But Calixte's arm was too strong when Hernan Perez followed with a sacrifice fly to medium-deep left field. Calixte's throw sailed impossibly high and wide over catcher Buster Posey and into the netted screen � think Bryce Harper's helmet toss with a more robust launch angle _ and then the ball dropped straight down to land behind the revolving advertising sign behind home plate. Because the ball was officially out of play, umpires awarded Santana the plate on Calixte's one-in-a-million toss and the Brewers led 2-0.
Samardzija spent the rest of the night making the ball disappear into Posey's glove. He retired 19 consecutive beginning with Thames' foul fly in the first inning.
The Brewers did not get another baserunner until Perez doubled amid a 2-2 game in the seventh, and went to third on Manny Pina's one-out single. But Samardzija had surplus fuel. He threw 95 mph to set up two-strike sliders of Nick Franklin and Jonathan Villar to strand both runners.
The Giants began to rally from their early 2-0 deficit in the fourth when Joe Panik hit an RBI single that scored Posey, who had singled and advanced on a passed ball. They drew even in the fifth on Nunez's fourth home run of the season.
They took the lead in a two-run eighth. Brandon Belt hit a leadoff single, Posey replaced him on a fielder's choice and Brandon Crawford walked. Both runners advanced on Hunter Pence's deep fly out, and after a two-out intentional walk to Panik, Hill came off the bench to hit for Calixte and supplied just his sixth hit in 36 at-bats this season.
It also was Hill's third hit in 10 at-bats as a pinch hitter, though. He has driven in four runs on those three hits.
