More on Sadowski, plus Schierholtz, Sanchez & slugging

MILWAUKEE -- If you didn't get enough information on Ryan Sadowski in the regular game coverage, here's more:

He's the first Giants starting pitcher to win his Major League debut since Joe Nathan did so in 1999. That's courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle and Elias Sports Bureau.

He's the fourth Giant to make his Major League debut this season, joining second baseman Matt Downs, first baseman Jose Guzman and right-hander Joe Martinez.

Thanks to him, the Brewers fell to 0-4 this year against pitchers making their Major League debut. The first three novices to beat Milwaukee were Minnesota's Anthony Swarzak, Atlanta's Tommy Hanson and Detroit's Alfredo Figaro.

Said Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun, "It's never easy. We didn't have a scouting report, so you just go up there the first time through the lineup and get a feel for what they're trying to do, what their pitches do. You never know if a scouting report is going to be accurate or not. But he threw the ball well. He deserved to win today, that's for sure."

Sadowski said that the biggest challenge he faced during his six-inning stint was coping with the most basic element -- the baseballs themselves. This observation is fairly common among professional ballplayers; subtle differences do exist between Major and Minor league baseballs.

"I throw a sinker and a cutter and I throw off a lot of 'feel,' and the balls kind of feel different in your hand," said Sadowski, who threw 45 strikes in 85 pitches. "Early on I was throwing two-seam fastballs that just kept missing inside. I was able to make the adjustment and go from there."

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By avoiding a three-game sweep, the Giants improved to 40-34. Last year, they didn't record their 40th victory until their 94th game. For those who are keeping track this early -- which is a little excessive -- the Giants also slipped back into the National League Wild Card lead, a half-game in front of St. Louis. Coincidentally, the Giants open a four-game series against the Cardinals on Monday night.

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Believe it or not, the Giants are on pace to exceed 100 home runs. They have 49 through 74 games, a rate that would give them 107 by the end of the season.

Both of San Francisco's homers on Sunday were noteworthy.

Matt Downs' sixth-inning homer was the first of his Major League career. Predictably, he felt a warm glow after connecting with Jeff Suppan's 2-2 curveball.

"It's awesome to hit a home run in the Major Leagues, especially to hit it off somebody like Jeff Suppan -- to have a name like that behind it," Downs said, referring to the Brewers' 133-game winner.

Nate Schierholtz's ninth-inning drive to right field was relatively ordinary unless you watched him swing. Schierholtz reached down and practically hit the ball one-handed, as if he were Roger Federer lashing a backhand.

"I had two strikes. I just tried to put the ball in play," Schierholtz said. "It had a little bit of backspin."

The baseball gods smiled upon Schierholtz, who lost a home run Saturday when Milwaukee center fielder Mike Cameron leaped above the wall to snare his seventh-inning clout.

"I got a little bit of revenge for the Cameron catch," Schierholtz said.

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Speaking of revenge, left-hander Jonathan Sanchez insisted that he wasn't throwing at Prince Fielder in Sunday's ninth inning. That didn't change the fact that Sanchez squarely plunked Fielder, who was spotted in an unusual place after the game -- loitering between the Giants and Brewers clubhouses, still partly dressed in baseball garb. Some observers speculated that Fielder wanted to get at Sanchez, though hostilities did not escalate.

Conceivably, Sanchez could have been defending the Giants' honor if they believed that Fielder celebrated excessively after hitting Saturday night's game-winning double. But that wasn't the case, said Sanchez, who struck out the side after hitting Fielder. "I wanted to go inside on him," Sanchez said.

Manager Bruce Bochy indicated that the Giants had no desire to hit Fielder by saying, "I wasn't happy with the way [the inning] started."

It was Sanchez's first relief appearance since being demoted to the bullpen. If he's trying to work his way back to the starting rotation -- which he is -- this was a good beginning.

"He regrouped, and I think he located his offspeed pitches well," Bochy said.

-- Chris Haft