San Francisco Giants’ Joey Bart, right, bunts for a single in front of Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto during the eighth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wed May 17, 2023 (AP News photo)
Philadelphia (20-23). 000 310 000. – 4. 8. 1
San Francisco (20-23) 400 000 03x. – 7 11. 0
Time: 2:55.
Attendance: 25,303
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
By Lewis Rubman
SAN FRANCISCO–Sometimes the hassles attendant on day games after nights games pile up until you never again want to see baseball played in broad daylight. But there are afternoons when it’s 59º and the sun is shining on McCovey Cove with just enough haze to soften the outlines of the east bay hills and remind you of a Japanese woodblock print.
It’s days like that, days like today, that let you forget about the standings, about aging veterans and rookie mistakes, blown saves and other missed opportunities and just sit back and enjoy the sunshine and the action on the field. It was a good day to watch San Francisco beat the Phils by the score of 7-4.
It didn’t hurt that the Giants jumped all over Philadelphia’s starter, Taijuan Walker, from the get go combining singles by Wilmer Flores, Casey Schmitt, Blake Sable, and Brandon Crawford with walks to LaMonte Wade, Jr and Mike Yastrzemski to put four runs on the board and two men on the base paths when Walker was yanked in favor of Matt Strahm with two out in the bottom of the first.
He had thrown 40 pitches, 21 for strikes. He escaped with a no decision, which left him with a record of 3-2, 6.53. Incidentally, Strahm got Joey Bart out to end the inning and pitched strongly until Connor Brogdon relieved him in the fourth. Andrew Vasquez took over for him in the fifth. and Andrew Bellatti with one on and one out in the sixth.
It was a strong start for San Francisco, but there was trouble to come.
San Francisco’s starter, Ross Stripling, didn’t experience any serious difficulties until the top of the fourth, when Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos singled, Kyle Schwarber walked, and JT Reamuto sent a double down the left field line that brought the first two runners home and sent Stripling to the showers, replaced by Sean Manaea, who yielded a sacrifice fly to Alec Bohm that scored Schwarber and allowed Realmuto to take third. That and a called third strike to Marsh brought the frame to a close.
Stripling had gone 3-1/3 innings and allowed three runs, all earned although one was posthumous. The Phillies touched him for four hits, and he walked one and struck out two. His ERA inched up to 7.24. Like Walker, he got a no decision.
Manaea coughed up the lead in the visitors’ sixth, when Stott got a hold of an 85.9mph slider and sent it travelling 101.7 mph over the Levi’s Landing sign, It probably didn’t make it to McCovey Cove, but visitors’ homers don’t count as splash hits anyway.
Jakob Junis pitched a splendid sixth for San Francisco, striking out the side in the old sense of the expression: three batters, three Ks. After allowing a lead off single to Bohm in the seventh, Junis departed, replaced by Scott Alexander. This made sense; Alexander is left handed, the next three batters in Philadelphia’s lineup were, too. The first, Marsh, laid down a sacrifice bunt. Junis fielded it and threw to second, but not in time.
Now there were runners on first and second no one out and the right handed Josh Harrison pinch hitting for Clemens. Junis struck him out. Stott hit a broken bat bouncer to Estrada at second, which became a 4-6-3 double play, but not. before Philadelphia challenged the call. The review showed that Harrison was well and truly out.
Seranthony Domínguez took over pitching duties for the Phillies in the whole seventh and immediately was helped by a spectacular diving catch by Schwarber in left of a dying liner by Flores.
In the eighth, John Brebbia relieved for the second time in as many games. He did his job, and we still we tied at four going into the bottom of the eighth. Gregory Soto now was pitching for the Phillies. JD Davis pinch hit to Sabal and singled to right. Mitch Haniger pinch hit for Crawford and singled to center.
Brett Wisely pinch ran for Davis, who had gone to second. Bart got. a bunt single to load the bases. Wade hit a grounder to second that forced Wisely out at home. Estrada’s single to center scored Haniger. Conforto to third that forced Bart out at. home but advanced the other two runners. Flores smacked a two run center to left. Mike Yastrzemski struck out, but we went into the ninth with the Giants ahead, 7-4.
That was Duval time. He was looking for his 11 th save, the second in two days. It wasn’t easy, a wild pitch and hit batter combined with Realmuto’s lead off single and walk to Stott loading the bases with one out and Trea Turner at bat. Duval got. ahead of him, 0-2. There was a conference at the mound. The count went to 1-2. Duval got him swinging.
Brebbia was the winning pitcher. He’s now 2-0, 4.67. Soto (1-3, 4.95) took the loss. And Camilo Doval got the save His ERA stands at 2.29.
The Giants. have tomorrow off and will face the Marlins here on Friday night. Starting pitcher for the Marlins on Friday Sandy Alcantara (1-4 ERA 4.91) and for the Giants Anthony DeSclafani (3-3 ERA 3.06) a 7:15 pm PT first pitch.
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