Mahle and Bullpen Power Giants to Impressive Win Over Brewers

Jul 28, 2026 | 2026 Season, Latest Post

by
Greek Giant

In the Giants 3-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers last night we saw a baseball team with dynamism, speed, power hitting, and great starting pitching along with a lights-out bullpen. No, I am not writing about the Brewers! The Giants showed something special in this win and it is encouraging, to say the least. Let’s start with Tyler Mahle and his six shutout innings of baseball. It was a perfect audition for a trade chip and it came on a night when the Giants encurred a knee injury to Casey Schmitt, their MVP of the 2026 season. Mahle allowed three hits and issued two walks while striking out three Brewers and generally staying in control of the game by staying ahead of the count. His fastball was popping and the Brew Crew was hitting many weak outs in the infield in the process of grounding into three double plays on the night. Those double plays were one of the keys to the game.

Mahle’s fastball was up a few ticks and that was likely the difference-maker for him:

“I was just out there trying to make pitches. don’t know why it was up, but it was up. I was feeling good. Honestly, the first pitch of the game, usually I can try to throw as hard as I can and a lot of games it’ll be 90, 91 [mph]. That’s what it usually is. I looked up and it was 93, and I was surprised by that. The rest of the game seemed higher but not crazy.”

-Tyler Mahle

We all remember that Mahle got off to a nightmarish start after joining the Giants on a one-year, $10 million contact in the offseason, posting a 6.04 ERA over his first 11 outings of 2026. But he’s been far more effective since returning from a left hamstring strain on June 24, recording a 3.06 ERA over his past six starts. In fact, at Willie Mays Field this year Mahle has an ERA under 3.00. The question therefore remains: To trade or not to trade Mahle?

I vote trade.

The other key to the game was Grant McCray and his two-run home run to left center field on a fastball on the outside corner by Brewer starting pitcher Brandon Sproat. It came in the bottom of the fourth inning and made the score 3-0 after the Giants tallied a run in the bottom of the third on a Luis Arraez single that scored Jesus Rodriguez from second base.

That McCray homer was very impressive and reached a 108 MPH velocity. McCray is an intriguing player with tremendous talents from throwing, to running and hitting with the occasional power. He may be a player the Giants do not want to give up on yet.

After Mahle’s six innings of work he was pulled in the top of the seventh after giving up a lead off single. From there The Giants bullpen trio of Hentges, Smith and Miller did the rest, not allowing a run or a hit and looking dominant in the process. They struck out four Milwaukeeans in all and it should be noted that the Brewers registered only three hits in the game. The Giants also stole three bases and were picked off twice. Apart from those two pickoffs it was a very impressive win for San Francisco.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, Casey Schmitt exited in the second after pulling up awkwardly while rounding first base. Christian Koss replaced him. Schmitt appeared to be watching the play unfold in the outfield and awkwardly tried to stop his body after rounding first. The Giants appear to think it is not a serious injury.

The Highlights

And this is very cool:

Bravo Giants!

Tonight’s Game

Game Two of the series against the Brewers takes place tonight at 6:45 PM at Willie Mays Field with Logan Henderson (4-1, 3.05 ERA) of Milwaukee facing Landen Roupp (7-8, 3.93 ERA) of the Giants.