What we learned as Joc, González power dramatic Giants win

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It appeared the Giants were heading home with a quiet loss Monday night to cap off an otherwise successful road trip. That is, until Milwaukee Brewers fans chose to pick on the wrong Giants player.

With the Brewers leading 1-0 in the top of the eighth inning, Giants outfielder Joc Pederson dug into the batter’s box to the sound of hecklers behind home plate. He stepped out of the box to give those Brewers fans a quick glare, and then stepped back in to take a pitch for ball one.

On the ensuing delivery from former Giants right-hander Trevor Gott, Pederson blasted a sinker into the right-field seats for a two-run homer and a San Francisco lead. It went 109.6 mph off the bat and silenced the chirps quicker than it left the park.

Milwaukee tied the score in the bottom half of the inning on Willy Adames' solo shot, but that only set the table for Luis González’s first career home run -- a two-run blast that gave San Francisco the lead for good in a 4-2 drama-filled victory at American Family Field.

Here are three takeaways from an exciting win that wrapped up an 11-game road trip for the Giants ...

A night to remember

González’s first career dinger couldn’t have come at a better time.

In just his 13th career big-league game, the Giants outfielder took Milwaukee reliever Jake Cousins deep on a sinker. It was the seventh pitch of the at-bat.

“Just really happy,” González said after the game. “Wish the family was here to witness it. I’m sure they were really stoked back at home. It’s just incredible. I’m loving life right now.”

González, whom the Giants picked up last August after he was taken off the Chicago White Sox's 40-man roster, made his San Francisco debut as a pinch-hitter Friday against the Washington Nationals. He has started the last three games, collecting four hits and five RBI along the way.

González went 2 for 4 in the win over the Brewers, also notching a single in the seventh inning off Corbin Burnes. That hit -- one of just two San Francisco mustered off the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner -- took Burnes out of the game, and the Giants went on to score four combined runs off Gott and Cousins.

Bullpen shines

Giants manager Gabe Kapler turned to his relievers for a bullpen game, as Sam Long started on the mound, then was followed by seven other pitchers. John Brebbia was the only San Francisco hurler to go multiple innings, as he put up zeros in the third and fourth frames.

Right-hander Yunior Marte was the most efficient of the bunch, using just eight pitches to post a perfect seventh inning. Following González’s dramatic home run, Camilo Doval closed out the game in the ninth and earned his fourth save of the season.

Successful business trip

The Giants’ grueling road trip -- which began April 15 in Cleveland -- is complete. It couldn’t have gone much better, as San Francisco went 8-3 on the road and now boasts the second-most wins in baseball with 12.

“It feels like we’ve been on the road for about two months,” Pederson said on NBC Sports Bay Area’s "Giants Postgame Live." “Can’t wait to come home and play in front of those great fans. We’re looking forward to seeing [them] at Oracle [Park].”

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