Buster Posey hits another HR as San Francisco Giants defeat Milwaukee Brewers - Oakland Tribune

MILWAUKEE -- Buster Posey is understated in almost everything he does, from on-field celebrations to postgame interviews. There was no way, however, to minimize his mammoth two-run homer after a 6-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Told that his sixth-inning home run, which bounced off the bottom of the center field scoreboard, was estimated to have traveled 438 feet, Posey grimaced, then flashed a wry smile.

"I think it was a little further than that," he said.

Regardless of the official distance, there was no downplaying the significance of Posey's homer and his overall performance. A day after his three-run homer got the ball rolling in a 4-3 victory, Posey drove in three more runs to help the Giants overcome a rare rough outing by Matt Cain.

Cain gave up four earned runs and a career-high seven extra-base hits, but the Giants gave him six runs of support in the first six innings. Cain also gave up four earned runs in his last start and won that one, too.

After years of hard luck, is the pendulum finally swinging his way?

"Hey, that's fine with me," Cain said. "Let's keep it going. I'm not happy with some of the runs I gave up, but you've got to win these games."

Posey did the heavy lifting, doing enough damage that manager Bruce Bochy is faced with a tough decision. The Giants exercise caution when they can with their franchise catcher, and Bochy had planned to give Posey a breather in Wednesday's series

finale before sending him out for all four games against the Miami Marlins.

After Posey's six RBIs in two games -- both of them wins -- at Miller Park this week, Bochy was preparing for a plea from Posey in the morning.

"He likes this park," Bochy said. "I wouldn't be surprised if he comes in and tries to talk his way into the lineup."

That Posey, nearly a year removed from a devastating ankle injury, can even consider the possibility of strapping on the gear for a day game after two long night games is another victory for the Giants.

"The ankle is not a factor," Bochy said. "I was a little concerned today that it would be a little cranky, and it wasn't at all."

Posey, as always, downplayed the progress he has made.

"I have to be smart, too," he said. "We'll see how everything feels in the morning. I'm seeing the ball well here. But there's no real scientific explanation."

Cain had a simple one for the Giants' success Tuesday.

"When (Posey) is swinging the bat right and we get guys in scoring position in front of him, that's a good feeling for us," he said.

Nobody was feeling better afterward than Joaquin Arias, who tacked on two additional runs against Brewers starter Shaun Marcum. Arias' two-run shot in the fourth inning was the first of his career, which began with a brief stint with the Texas Rangers in 2006. With Pablo Sandoval (fractured left hamate) still on the disabled list, Arias has filled in admirably at third base.

"Oh, man -- he's really saved us," Bochy said. "With Pablo down, we needed help at third. He's been swinging the bat well lately."

With the home run ball displayed proudly in his locker, Arias said the moment was everything he thought it would be.

"I always dreamed of hitting a homer in the big leagues," he said through a translator. "It was a big moment in the game, too."

There were plenty of those for the Giants, who won for the eighth time in 11 games. After Posey's RBI double and Angel Pagan's sacrifice fly got the Giants on the board in the top of the first inning, the Brewers got a leadoff triple from Norichika Aoki in the bottom of the frame.

The speedy outfielder tagged on Nyjer Morgan's fly ball to left field, but Melky Cabrera threw a perfect strike to the plate to nail Aoki.

"That was ridiculous," Cain said. "In my mind, I'm thinking that's one run (given up), and we'll get it back. But he comes up firing.

"That changed the momentum. It definitely did for me."

Cain never quite got rolling, but the Giants offense did. In two games at Miller Park they have four homers.

"A park like this can really get our confidence going," Bochy said.

• Aubrey Huff said he felt great after his first start in over a month. Huff was 0 for 3 but hit two deep fly balls and drew a walk ahead of Arias' homer.

  "The goal was to get out there and not be so results-oriented and just have good at-bats," Huff said. "I felt I did that. I feel great. I felt like I could do some damage today, which is the first time I've felt that in a long time."

  Huff's last start came April 21 in New York. Two days later, he left the team to deal with an episode of anxiety, which eventually landed him on the disabled list.

• Bochy briefly left the dugout because of dizziness but said he was fine.
• Emmanuel Burriss went 0 for 4 to drop his average to .200 and committed a cardinal sin when he didn't leave the batter's box on a second-inning pop-up. The ball drifted back into fair territory and was caught by Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy.

  Bochy said he considered removing Burriss but didn't want to punish Cain by leaving the Giants short in the infield.

  "He's better than that," Bochy said of Burriss. "There's no excuse for that. He's got to be smarter than that."

  For more on the Giants, see Alex Pavlovic's Giants Extra blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/Giants. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/AlexPavlovic.