MILWAUKEE -- The San Francisco Giants ended a rough stretch -- and a disappointing road trip -- on a high note Thursday, rallying for four runs in the 10th inning to pull out a 9-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.

Giants closer Mark Melancon (1-1) blew a two-run lead in the ninth, giving up a solo home run to Eric Sogard and an RBI single to Travis Shaw. But the Giants got three straight singles to open the 10th against Jacob Barnes (1-1), with Hunter Pence's pinch-hit single driving in the go-ahead run. Another run scored on a Denard Span double, and a third scored on an Eduardo Nunez single, his second hit of the day.

Joe Panik, who hit his third homer of the year back in the third inning, added one more run when Eric Thames dropped his fly ball in left, which was scored as a sacrifice fly.

"We've had some tough times and you know, we give up a two-run lead there in the ninth and find a way to win the ballgame," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "That really can get a club down but it shows a lot of battle on the character and how resilient they are to put a four-spot up, especially on a road trip that hasn't been great for us. They kept fighting. That's all you can do. They're doing that. You keep doing that and we'll get this turned around."

The Giants' late rally might not have been possible without a fortunate break during Milwaukee's ninth-inning comeback. After Sogard's homer, Thames drew a walk to put the tying run on first and he appeared to score when Jesus Aguilar followed with a double to the corner in left.

But the ball got lodged under the padding along the outfield wall, and thus, left Aguilar with a ground rule double. He was held at second and Thames at third, bringing Craig Counsell out to challenge the call which was confirmed after a review of 1:38.

"I asked (home plate umpire Ed Hickox) to confer with each other that it was lodged," Counsell said. "They agreed, so after that, there's no harm in me challenging whether it's lodged or not. New York said it was lodged, also."

Hickox said that even though Orlando Calixte played the ball, it was still dead.

"Any umpire who sees a ball gets lodged can kill it," Hickox told a pool reporter. "If a fielder throws his hands up and we don't see it, we will continue to go out there until we can see it lodged or see it not lodged. So the fact of him throwing his hands up is not really the issue. It's 'Did the umpire see it lodged or not?'"

Shaw sent the tying run home with a base hit, but Aguilar could only get to third. After Domingo Santana struck out, catcher Jett Bandy came within inches of winning it; but his line drive was snared by Nunez, the third baseman, and Melancon got pinch-hitter Hernan Perez on a grounder to end the threat.

"We needed a break at that point," Bochy said. "It's not really a break; it's just good defense and it shows you how athletic Nunez is. I think once he got out of it, he said it was a sense of relief and the guys were pretty fired up."

The late collapse and eventual comeback wiped out Johnny Cueto's attempt to extend his eight-game winning streak against the Brewers. Cueto allowed three runs -- two earned -- on six hits and four walks while striking out four over five innings of work.

Brewers starter Paolo Espino, making his second big league start, lasted four innings and allowed three runs on five hits and two walks, striking out a pair, but he gave up solo home runs to Panik and Austin Slater.

NOTES: RHP Paolo Espino was recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs and started Thursday against San Francisco in place of RHP Matt Garza (chest), who went on the 10-day disabled list a day earlier. ... To make room for Espino on the roster, Milwaukee optioned OF Brett Phillips back to Colorado Springs. Phillips appeared in two games and went 1-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts in his first major league action. ... San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy gave C Buster Posey the day off and RF Hunter Pence wasn't in the starting lineup before being utilized as a pinch hitter. Both will be back in the lineup Friday against Minnesota, Bochy said. ... Giants 3B Eduardo Nunez singled in the sixth and has now reached base in 23 consecutive games.