Philadelphia Phillies then bench coach Don Mattingly (8) watches from the dugout in a game against the Colorado Rockies in the sixth inning at Coor Field in Denver on Apr 5, 2026 at Coor Field in Denver. Mattingly now manages the Phillies as of Tue Apr 28, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

A disastrous sixth inning spelled a loss in the first game of the San Francisco Giants (13-16) three-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies (10-19) losing 7-0. San Francisco could not get much of anything offensively going finishing the game with only two hits. The Phillies scored four runs in the sixth inning and starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo had a terrific outing.

Game recap: The game was scoreless through the first three innings of the game. The standoff came to an end when the Phillies scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. This had been a pitchers duel until Philadelphia’s Brandon Marsh hit a sacrifice with the bases loaded driving Trea Turner home for the Philadelphia 1-0 lead.

The sixth inning would be a repeat of the fourth when the Phillies again loaded the bases and then a flurry of hits gave them a 4-0 lead. A Turner single, a Kyle Schwarber walk and a Bryce Harper double loaded the bases driving Turner home and the score was 2-0. Garcia doubled driving Harper and Schwarber home for a 4-0 lead.

That would be it for San Francisco Tyler Mahle who finished the game with six hits and five earned runs. Matt Gage would take the mound getting the Giants out of the inning but there had been a lot of damage done late in the game.

The game went into the seventh inning and the Giants had a lot of work to do and not much time to do it. The Phillies Jesus Luzardo was doing an incredible job only giving up two hits through seven innings with eight strikeouts. This was his longest start of the season.

San Francisco went three and out in the seventh and eighth innings and were three outs away from losing the first game of the series. The Phillies would extend their lead in the bottom of the eighth. Justin Crawford singled Marsh home and Turner singled Marsh home for a shutout the final score 7-0. The Giants went quietly in the top of the ninth inning three and out.

Luzardo had a terrific outing finishing seven innings allowing only two hits no runs and eight strikeouts. He only had 88 pitches. The Giants could not create any offense at all in the loss. San Francisco pitching gave up 11 hits. The Phillies showed no signs of struggling offensively at least in game one.

Game notes: It’s no secret that the Phillies are struggling and those struggles came to a head Tuesday morning when manager Rob Thompson was fired. The Phillies have had a disappointing 10-19 start to the season. Their interim manager Don Mattingly won his first game at the helm.

The Giants are currently riding a three-series win streak but things didn’t start the series in Philadelphia as expected with 7-0 shutout loss. The Phillie faced a red-hot San Francisco team but cooled them off with timely hitting and pitching on Tuesday.

The Phillies have had an awful time scoring although they have MVP Bryce Harper and and two-time home run leader Kyle Schwarber aboard they didn’t have much of awful time Tuesday. Mattingly being named interim should delight the Giants. He has in the past made some, quite frankly, incompetent decisions, some of which favored San Francisco when he was managing in Los Angeles.

He had constantly made some strategic errors but that aside he is a respected manager who had a great career. These changes for the Phillies could possibly hurt the team but it’s doubtful that it will make that much of an impact. But for the first game for Mattingly he helped more than hurt.

San Francisco will need to look past Tuesday’s game to set the stage for a fourth series win. Matt Chapman who is celebrating his 33rd birthday didn’t get much a birthday present with Tuesday’s loss. Giants starter Tyler Mahle pitched five innings, allowed six hits, five earned runs, three walks, three strike outs. Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo pitched seven innings, allowed two hits, and struck out eight.

San Francisco will have another go on Wednesday in game two with first pitch scheduled for 3:40 PM. Logan Webb will take the mound looking to even the series. He has a 2-3 win/loss record and a 4.86 ERA. The Phillies will start Christopher Sanchez. He comes into the game with a 2-2 win/loss record and a 2.94 ERA.