Tag: Philadelphia Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies hitter Bryce Harper avoids getting hit as the ball hits the knob of his bat in the top of the fourth inning from a pitch thrown by San Francisco Giants starter Kyle Harrison at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Thu May 29, 2024 (AP News photo)

Wednesday, May 29, 2024

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

Philadelphia Phillies 6 (39-18)

San Francisco Giants 1 (29-28)

Win: Christopher Sanchez (3-3)

Loss: Kyle Harrison (4-2)

Time: 2:38

Attendance: 31,763

By Stephen Ruderman

SAN FRANCISCO–The Giants were unable to get the sweep, as Kyle Harrison gave up 12 hits over five innings of work, and the Phillies were able to salvage a game in this series with a 6-1 win.

Following Tuesday night’s 10-inning 1-0 win to take the series against the Phillies, the Giants had a chance to sweep the best team in baseball with a win Wednesday. The Giants had their young left-hander, Kyle Harrison, on the mound today for this sunny, cloudless but hazy Wednesday afternoon affair in San Francisco, and they had every reason to feel good about their chances today, as they came into today 9-2 in Harrison’s starts.

Kyle Schwarber greeted Harrison with a rude welcome, as he hit a home run to left-center field to start the game. Harrison then proceeded to retire the side in order.

It would be a matchup of left-handers, as the Phillies sent Christopher Sanchez to the hill. Marco Luciano reached base when he hit a weak ground ball between the mound and the third base line, and Sanchez threw the ball past first-baseman Bryce Harper down the right field line. Luciano advanced to second on a ground out by Thairo Estrada, but Matt Chapman flew out to center to end the inning.

Harrison ran into trouble in the top of the second, as Nick Castellanos and Bryson Stott started the inning with singles. Whit Merrifield flew out to right, and Garrett Stubbs hit a bullet to Thairo Estrada at second for the second out.

That brought up the ninth-place hitter, Cristian Pache, who was hitting .196 coming into Wednesday’s game. It appeared that Harrison was going to get out of the inning, but Pache hit a ground ball that found its way into left field for a base-hit. Castellanos was waived in, and the throw from Heliot Ramos in left was not his strongest, as Castellanos scored to make it a 2-0 game.

The Giants were unable to do anything with a leadoff base-hit by Wilmer Flores in the bottom of the second, and Harrison found himself back in trouble with two outs in the top of the third. Castellanos doubled, and then Stott reached on an infield hit to short on what seemed to be a lack of effort by shortstop Marco Luciano.

Harrison got Merrifield to line out to right to escape the inning without any damage. As for Luciano, Manager Bob Melvin had Brett Wisely pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the third, as Luciano’s lackadaisical effort on Stott’s ground ball stemmed from a strained right hamstring that sustained while running to first base back in the first inning.

Wisely and Estrada both singled with two outs, and Chapman walked to load the bases, but the Giants wasted the opportunity, as Flores struck out swinging to end the inning.

The fourth inning would be interesting to say the least. Harrison was once again in trouble, as Bryce Harper came up with two outs and two runners on base. With the count at 1-2, Harrison threw a fastball up and in to Harper that Harper took umbrage to, as he had some words for Harrison.

The next pitch was also up and in and clipped Harper’s bat. Harper did not have much of a reaction, but the fact that he had another pitch up and in following the previous one caused the benches to empty. The Phillies basically had to exit their dugout to show that they had Harper’s bat, and same with the Giants and Harrison. Other than a bit of pushing and shoving, nothing too severe happened, and nobody was ejected.

“At that point, we’re still in the game and not trying to escalate anything,” said Manager Curt Casali. “There [was] no intent. Bryce has a history of being hit in the face, and I get the frustration, but I think we de-escalated it very very quickly. I went right over to him, and [I asked, ‘are you okay?’ He said ‘yes, I know you weren’t trying to go in there.’”

Harper acknowledged that neither pitch was intentional and that he had an emotional reaction.

“[Harrison] didn’t mean to [do it],” said Harper. “I wasn’t really that mad.”

“I’ll give Bryce some credit,” continued Casali. “He got upset, but he immediately calmed down. He wasn’t looking for a fight; he just reacted…..It’s scary when you get a ball in your face. I understand where he’s coming from. To his credit, I think after [his] reaction, I think he handled it really really well. I think he handled it like a pro. I gotta give some respect to him on that one.”

It was a coincidence that this happened on the seventh anniversary of Harper’s brawl with Hunter Strickland. Thankfully, today’s situation was nowhere near as severe as what happened in 2017, Harper ended up grounding out to short to end the inning.

The Giants went down scoreless in the bottom of the fourth, as Sanchez took comment. Harrison escaped trouble in the second, third and fourth unscathed, but he would not be so lucky in the top of the fifth. Bohm led off the inning with a double, and Castellanos hit an opposite-field home run to left that hit off the glove of Heliot Ramos just over the wall. That made it 4-0 Phillies, and after Harrison escaped further damage later in the inning, his day was done.

Harrison’s command has always been an indicator of how he’ll do, and while he only walked one better today, it was still not good. The Phillies also made a lot of hard contact off him. The most stinging stat is that the Phillies got 12 hits in just five innings against Harrison.

“[I’m] pissed off,” said Harrison. “Any time you look up and see [you’ve allowed] 12 hits, it’s not a good day.”

Sanchez proceeded to pitch a shutdown 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth. Luke Jackson relieved Harrison in the top of the sixth and pitched two perfect innings. Sanchez pitched another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the sixth to put a cap on his afternoon, and Gregory Soto followed that up with a quick and scoreless bottom of the seventh for Philadelphia.

Randy Rodriguez, who has pitched well as of late for the Giants, came in for the eighth, but his fortunes took a dip Wednesday. Schwarber and Harper each knocked in runs with base-hits to pretty much put the game away, as the Phillies opened up their lead to 6-0.

Seranthony Dominguez pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth for Philadelphia, and submariner Tyler Rogers pitched a 1-2-3 top of the ninth for the Giants.

The Giants were able to get on the board off Spencer Turnball in the bottom of the ninth, as Flores doubled, and Ramos singled him in, but that would be it. Trenton Brooks pinch-hit for Tyler Fitzgerald and grounded out to first to end the game.

Sanchez got the win, and Harrison took just his second loss of the season. The Giants fall to 29-28, as they were unable to complete the sweep, but the fact that they were able to take two out of three against the best team in baseball is no small accomplishment.

The Giants will have a day off Thursday, and then they will welcome the New York Yankees to Oracle Park for a three-game series starting Friday night. It will be the Yankees’ first trip to San Francisco since they swept the Giants from April 26-28, 2019. The Yankees have not announced a starter yet and the Giants will start Jordan Hicks, and first pitch will be at 7:15 p.m.

News and Notes:

Marco Luciano is expected to be day to day with his strained right hamstring. He should be reevaluated no later than Friday.

Jung-hoo Lee is expected to have his operation on his dislocated left shoulder next Monday, June 3.

San Francisco Giants Luis Matos whacks a fly to left field that scored ghost runner Tyler Fitzgerald from third base in the bottom of the tenth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

Philadelphia (38-18). 000 000 000 0. 0 7 0

San Francisco (29-27). 000 000 000 1. 1 4 0. 10 innings

Time: 2:32

Attendance: 34,653

Tuesday, May 8, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–Thrilling as it was, the Giants’ 1-0 10 inning triumph over the Philadelphia Phillies at Oracle Park Tuesday night was less significant that what occurred in medical examination rooms and the Giants’ front office.

LaMonte Wade, Jr., who aggravated his left hamstring strain running out a double last night, was placed on the 10 day injured list, but imaging showed that he had a grade two strain, making his placement on the 30 day list inevitable.

The probable month long loss of Wade, arguably the Giants most reliable hitter and a steady presence at first base, reverberates against the season-long loss of the sparkplug Jung-Hoo Lee, who is awaiting surgery on his dislocated shoulder.

But those weren’t the only transactions of note that came down today. The Giants promoted three players from Sacramento. Trenton Brooks, a career minor leaguer who was hitting .308 in the hitter friendly PCL yesterday, was playing first base and batting in the ninth position when the orange and black took the field this evening.

Spencer Howard, a right handed pitcher who throws a sinker, cutter, change of pace, and knuckle curve, got a break and pitched four innings of shutout ball in the show Tuesday night. Tyler Fitzgerald, who had played in 22 games for the Giants earlier this season and was the most recent PCL Player of the Week, joined the caravan of River Cats down I-80 to McCovey Cove and scored the winning run.

San Francisco also designated two players for assignment, the well paid and unused veteran hurler Drew Pomeranz and outfielder Ryan McKenna.

Here’s a little more detail about the newcomers fared tonight. Brooks went hitless in four at bats, striking out once. Howard surrendered four hits and struck out four batters in his effective four innings on the mound, throwing 49 pitches, 36 for strikes.

Fitzgerald entered the game as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the eighth, when he walked. He struck out in the ninth and was the zombie runner whom Luis Matos drove in with his game winning sacrifice fly in the tenth.

The Giants used five pitchers to shut Philadelphia out in this bullpen game, opening with Erik Miller, who left after an inning. Then came Taylor Rogers. He stuck around for two frames, followed by Alexander, who kept Philadelphia off the board in the fourth through seventh frames.

Ty Rogers gave up a hit in the one inning he pitched, the eighth. Sean Hjelle, who got the win, and now is 2-1, 2.95, put the Phils down. in order in the ninth, and didn’t let the ghost runner get past third in the tenth.

Philadelphia’s starting pitcher, Zack Wheeler, a veteran of 10 major league campaigns and last years Gold Glove winner in the. National League, pitched six strong innings, in which he allowed only two hits and an equal number of walks while striking out nine of the 21 Giants he faced.

Orion Kerkering and José Alvarado each pitched a hitless inning, although the latter issued a pair of bases on balls. Jeff Hoffman gave up a couple of hits, one a broken bat single by Thairo Estrada, but emerged unscathed. Matt Strahm, who took the loss, issued an intentional walk, but managed to lose in the one scoring inning of the entire night. Here’s how it came down:

Fitzgerald was placed on second. The Phillies chose to grant Héliot Ramos an intentional pass to set up a double play. It was the standard move in situations like this. It backfired. WilmerFlores, who had entered the game a pinch hitter in the eighth, flew out to center, deep enough to let Fitzgerald advance to third. Matos then few out to medium deep left, deep enough for Fitzgerald to beat the throw home and give the Giants a tremendous victory

Wednesday Matinee, will see the final duel between these two teams, barring a playoff encounter Kyle Harrison (4-1, 3.90) will face off against the Fighting Phillies from the City of Brotherly Love’s Cristopher Sánchez (2-3, 3.15) at 12:45pm PT.

San Francisco Giants starter Blake Snell delivers to the Philadelphia Phillies line up in the top of the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Mon May 27. 2024 (AP News photo)

Philadelphia (38-17). 002 200 000 4 7 3

San Francisco 28-27). 030 021 20x. 8 12. 1

Time: 2:44

Attendance: 40,598

Monday, May 27, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–We’re only about a third of the way through the season, so to consider any series critical at this juncture would not only be premature; it would border on the melodramatic. Nonetheless, the Giants’ 8-4 win this afternoon before a sellout crowd of 40,598 was important because it came at the expense of the team with the best winning percentage in the major leagues–.704 at game, .691 after it.

San Francisco had just completed a six game trip to Pittsburgh and New York and, in spite of Sunday’s disappointing loss to the Mets, was 8-2 in its last 10 games. The team’s decisive victory in the first of a three game series indicated that the Giants are, indeed, contenders but also left some serious doubts about their chances. Those doubts centered around Cy Young award winner Blake Snell.

This cool, sunny, and–it goes without saying–breezy Memorial Day afternoon, gave us a chance to see if, after long last, Snell had overcome the negative effects his extended off-season, groin injuries, and paternity leave that had sent him to the mound at 0-3, 11.40, and a distressing WHIP of 2.07. His performance Sunday indicated that he hadn’t.

Snell lasted a mere four innings and threw 90 pitches in them. He allowed four runs, three of them earned, on five hits and two walks, while striking out seven on the way to a no decision that left him at 0-3, 10.42 with a WHIP of 2.00. Randy Rodríguez, who earned his first major league win, replaced him at the start of the Philly fifth.

Snell’s counterpart for Philadelphia, Taijuan Walker, brought an impressive 3-0 won-lost record to this, his 200th career start. His ERA also was impressive but in a dissonant way; it was 5.06. He wasn’t impressive today, yielding a half a dozen runs, five of them earned, on nine hits and two walks. Of his 98 offerings, 65 were considered strikes. The loss left him at 3-1,6.51

The Phillies hit Snell hard in the first, including JT Realmuto’s one out double off the 399 foot marker in front of the Giants’ bullpen that extended his hitting streak to 16 and Alec Boh Bohm’s inning ending line out to Héctor Ramos in left.

The Giants did more against Walker than just threaten. They tattooed him. Matt Chapman opened the second with a walk and moved up a base on Patrick Bailey’s single to right. After Jorge Soler flew out to center, Mike Yastrzemski lashed a two bagger into the right field corner, driving in Chapman and Bailey. The offensive paused when Ramos took a called third strike but resumed with Brett Wisely’s RBI single to center. When the dust had settled, the home team led, 3-0.

That didn’t last long. Kyele Schwarber’s 10th home run of the year, which flew over the State Farm advertisement embedded in the right field wall in the top of the third, closed the gap to 3-2. A nice running catch by Yastrzemski of Bohm’s fly to right center kept things from getting out of hand.

That happened in their next turn at bat. Edmundo Sosa socked a triple to base of the center field fence and scored on Snell’s wild pitch to Whit Merrifield. Chapman’s error when he couldn’t pick up Merrifield’s hopping ground ball allowed the Phillies’ second sacker to reach first and then steal his way into scoring position.

Johan Rojas then dumped a single into center, Merrifield scored, and Philadelphia had grabbed a 4-3 lead. It could have been worse; Schwarber drew a walk and then. combined with Rojas to pull off a double steal before Realmuto whiffed for the final out of the frame.

The Giants grabbed the lead back in their half of the fifth, thanks, in part, to some bad fielding. Matos beat out a bad throw by third baseman Bohm on a tough play that was scored as a hit. LaMonte Wade, Jr. whacked a double off the left edge of the State Farm sign in right center to put two runners in scoring position.

It was a pyrrhic victory; Wade aggravated the hamstring injury from which he had been recovering. Wilmer Flores pinch ran for him and remained in the game to play first. Estrada followed Wade’s double with a hot shot to third that Bohm couldn’t handle and which let Flores move up 90 feet. He scored on Bailey’s sac fly to left.

San Francisco tacked on another tally in the sixth on a walk to Yastrzemski and Wisely’s double off the Visa advertisement in right center. That gave Erik Miller a 6-4 lead when he came in to pitch the top of the seventh. He retired Rojas quickly and then got Schwarber to lift a pop up in front of the plate.

Miller, Flores, and Chapman converged on the ball, which fell between them for a sun and wind aided infield single. Then Miller retired the dangerous Realmuto. and Harper to put an end to that uprising.

Walker didn’t come out for the home half of the seventh; José Ruíz did and was the victim of fielding that was worthy of the 1962 Mets. Errors by Bohm (yes, him again) and Merrifield, along with Estrada’s infield single and Ramos’s safety to center, upped the Giants’ advantage to 8-4.

Matt Strahm replaced Walker to pitch the bottom of the eighth, which was uneventful except for Estrada’s shot down the third base line that ate up Bohn and went into left for a two out double.

Camilo Doval allowed a double off the National Car Rental ad in left field to close out the game.

The Giants, who were swept earlier this month in their four game visit to the City of Brotherly Love, have a chance to clinch the current series Tuesday. The Giants haven’t yet announced who will start. Philadelphia will go with Zack Wheeler (6-3, 2.53). Game time will be 6:45pm PT.

San Francisco Giants pitcher Mason Black pitched in his Major League debut against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia on Mon May 6, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the SF Giants podcast with Marko:

#1 Marko, The San Francisco Giants were swept in four games at Citizens Bank in Philadelphia by the Philadelphia Phillies Monday and it wasn’t close in a a five run 6-1 loss for San Francisco.

#2 The Phillies got some offense as superstar slugger Bryce Harper took Giants pitching deep with a three run home run off Giants rookie pitcher Mason Black in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend Harper’s hit streak to 19.

#3 The Phillies got some pitching as well from Zack Wheeler who sat down 11 Giant hitters on strike outs in seven innings of work. When your dealing like that and keeping guys off balance it’s difficult to get some kind of rhythm going and for the Giants line up Wheeler was just a mystery.

#4 For Black he made his big league appearance in front of family and friends who come from the Philadelphia area was able to get a 1-2-3 inning against the Phils in the first inning which included striking out Harper on a 88 MPH change up but that all changed later when the Phillies touched up Black for eight hits and five run in 4.1 innings of work.

#5 The Giants continue their road trip and head to the Rocky Mountains to battle the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night at Coors Field in Denver for the first of a three game series. Starting pitcher for the Giants LHP Kyle Harrison (2-1, ERA 3.79) and for the Rockies RHP Dakota Hudson (0-5, ERA 5.93) first pitch 5:40pm PDT.

Join Marko for the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper acknowledges the Citizens Bank crowd in Philadelphia after hitting a third inning home run off San Francisco Giants pitcher Logan Webb that landed in the Phillies bullpen on Sun May 5, 2024 (AP News photo)

Sunday, May 5, 2024

Citizens Bank Park

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

San Francisco Giants 4 (15-20)

Philadelphia Phillies 5 (24-11)

Win: Taijuan Walker (2-0)

Loss: Logan Webb (3-3)

Save: Jose Alvarado (7)

Time: 2:45

Attendance: 41,058

By Stephen Ruderman

The Phillies beat the Giants for the third-straight night, as they got to Logan Webb for four runs in the bottom of the third inning, and while the Giants got back into it to make it a close game, the Phillies held on to win it by a final of 5-4.

After the Giants wasted a couple of golden opportunities and lost the opener of the series Friday night, the Phillies absolutely annihilated them Saturday night 14-3. Saturday night, the Giants sent their ace, Logan Webb to the mound on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball to try and get their first win of this series.

Following a rocky spring and a so-so start to his season, Webb had a pair of dominant outings on the Giants’ homestand and seemed to finally be in a groove. However, he struggled in his start this past Tuesday night at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox, as he gave up four runs and nine hits over just three and two-thirds innings of work.

The Phillies went with Taijun Walker, whom the Giants got to for a run in the top of the first inning. With two outs and LaMonte Wade on first base, Michael Conforto hit an opposite-field double to left field to put the Giants on the board. Webb responded with a 1-2-3 bottom of the first.

The second inning would prove to be the opposite of the first. Walker set the Giants down 1-2-3 in the top of the second, and Logan Webb ran into trouble in the bottom of the second after Alec Bohm reached and advanced to second base on a throwing shortstop Nick Ahmed to start the inning.

Brandon Marsh got Bohm to third on a ground out to second, and Nick Castellanos struck out swinging, as Webb had a chance to get out of the inning unscathed. However, Webb walked Bryson Stott, who ended up stealing second, and Edmundo Sosa reached on a broken-bat single to second, which knocked in Bohm to tie the game.

The Giants went down scoreless in the top of the third, and the Phillies were right back at it in the bottom of the third with the top of the order up. Kyle Schwarber walked; J.T. Realmuto lined a single up the middle and into center field; and Bryce Harper hit a three-run home run that just cleared the wall in right-center to put the Phillies up 4-1.

Webb retired the next two batters, but Nick Castellanos lined a base-hit to left and stole second. That brought up Bryson Stott, who lined a double to left to knock in Castellanos, and that extended the Phillies’ lead to 5-1.

The Giants’ offense, who had been held to three runs or less in nine-straight games coming into tonight, had their work cut out for them, but they continued to flounder, as Walker set them down 1-2-3 in the top of the fourth.

Webb set down the first two men he faced in the bottom of the fourth, but he ran into more trouble after Realmuto reached on an infield hit and Michael Conforto dropped a fly ball in left off the bat of Harper. Webb struck Bohm out swinging, but that would be all for the Giants’ ace.

Other than the four-run bottom of the third inning, Webb was actually fine, as he dealt with a couple bad breaks. He would’ve had a 1-2-3 inning in the second had it not been for the error by Ahmed, he got screwed in the fourth with the bad-luck broken bat single and the dropped fly ball by Conforto.

Walker hit Thairo Estrada to start the fifth, but then retired the side in order. Sean Hjelle came in for Webb and survived a leadoff base-hit by Brandon Marsh.

Both pitchers pitched scoreless innings again in the sixth, but the Giants finally had some action against Walker in the top of the seventh. Mike Yastrzemski reached on an infield hit with one out, and then Thairo Estrada, who was hit by a pitch his last time up, hit a two-run bomb to left to cut the Giants’ deficit to 5-3.

Estrada’s home run ended the night for Taijuan Walker, who was replaced by Gregory Soto. Soto hit Austin Slater and then walked Nick Ahmed to put runners at first and second with one out. The Giants had another golden opportunity, but they once again wasted it, as Jung-hoo lee popped out to second, and Wade grounded to third for a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Left-hander Taylor Rogers was summoned for the bottom of the seventh and was able to escape a leadoff double by Alec Bohm unharmed.

Jeff Hoffman came in for the Phillies in the eighth, and Michael Conforto tripled with one out on a ball that went off the glove of center-fielder John Rojas. The Giants once again had a golden opportunity, but of course, the Giants once again wasted a golden opportunity, as Matt Chapman and Yastrzemski both struck out swinging to end the inning.

Ryan Walker threw a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the eighth for the Giants, and the Phillies brought in their closer, Jose Alvarado, for the ninth. Catcher Jakson Reetz, whom the Giants called up prior to the game, blasted one out to left with one out to make it 5-4.

Sunday night was the first time since April 23 that the Giants had scored four runs in a game. The Giants were hoping it would spark something, but it didn’t. Nick Ahmed struck out swinging, and Lee flew out to right to end it.

Taijuan Walker got the win; Webb got he Loss; and Alvarado picked up his seventh save. With this loss, the Giants have now dropped five of their last six, and they fall to a new season-high—or shall I say low—five games under .500 at 15-20.

The Giants were able to salvage a game in Boston, and they will hope to do the same Monday. The Giants will send young right-hander Mason Black to the mound to make his major league debut, and he will be opposed by former Giants’ farmhand Zack Wheeler. First pitch will be at 4:05 p.m. in Philadelphia, 1:05 p.m. back home in San Francisco.

News and Notes:

Tom Murphy was indeed placed on the 10-Day Injured List with a left knee sprain after he hurt himself chasing a wild pitch by Mitch White last night.

Jakson Reetz, who was called up to replace Murphy on the roster, and who hit the home run in the ninth had an interesting story.

Reetz was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the third round in 2014, but it took him seven years to reach the majors. He finally made his major league debut for the Nationals on July 10, 2021 against the Giants in San Francisco. He doubled in his first major league at-bat in the ninth inning of that game against John Brebbia, and then flew out to left in the seventh inning the next day.

However, Reetz was sent back down to the minors, and he bounced around in the Brewers’ and Royals’ farm systems before signing a minor league deal with the Giants last season. Reetz finally got the call back up tonight, and going 2-for-3 with a double and a home run in three major league games over three seasons, not too shabby.

Mitch White was designated for assignment, and Daulton Jefferies was called back up.

The Philadelphia Phillies Bryson Stott (5) hit an RBI single in the bottom of the second inning against the San Francisco Giants. The Giants catcher behind Stott is Tom Murphy at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia (AP News photo)

Saturday, May 4, 2024

Citizens Bank Park

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

San Francisco Giants 3 (15-19)

Philadelphia Phillies 14 (23-11)

Win: Range Suarez (6-0)

Loss: Keaton Winn (3-4)

Time: 3:01 (1:10 delay)

Attendance: 42,610

By Stephen Ruderman

The Phillies just took it to the Giants, as they slaughtered them 14-3 on a rainy night at Citizens Bank Park, and the Giants have now dropped four of their first five games on this road trip.

The Phillies beat the Giants 4-3 in the series opener last night after the Giants’ offense wasted more key opportunities. Tonight, the offense would have to face the left-hander and the National League Pitcher of the Month for April, Ranger Suarez, who came into tonight undefeated at 5-0 with a 1.32 ERA. The Giants countered with Keaton Winn, who after a rough first two starts to his season, has pitched well over his last four starts.

Before tonight’s game, both teams had to deal with an hour-and-10-minute rain delay. The game was finally able to begin, but intermittent rain would continue throughout the night.

Once the game began, Suarez walked Austin Slater to start things off. After striking both Thairo Estrada and Jung-hoo Lee out looking, Wilmer Flores flew out on a low-hanging fly ball to left field.

When the Phillies came up to bat, they were more than ready for Keaton Winn. Kyle Schwarber walked to start things out and advanced to second on a passed ball by Tom Murphy. J.T. Realmuto also walked, and Bryce Harper lined a single the other way to left to load the bases. Winn then hit Alec Bohm, which scored the first run of the game, and Brandon Marsh lined a base-hit to right to score Realmuto and make it 2-0.

Winn got Nick Castellanos to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to finally get the first two outs of the inning. Harper scored to make it 3-0, but it was a pair of outs Winn desperately needed. Unfortunately for Winn, the Phillies weren’t done. Bryson Stott singled to right to score Bohm and make it 4-0, and Edmundo Sosa reached on an infield hit to second, which knocked Winn out of the game after two-thirds of an inning. Mitch White came in for Winn and allowed a single to Johan Rojas to make it 5-0.

With the Phillies up 5-0 and Suarez on the mound, the Giants had their work cut out for them, and Suarez responded by throwing a 1-2-3 top of the second inning.

The Phillies came back up in the top of the second and kept going. Realmuto tripled to start the inning and scored on a wild pitch. Tom Murphy felt his knee pop while going after the wild pitch on the wet and slippery glass and was replaced by Blake Sabol, who was called up from the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats prior to the game.

The bases were empty, but that didn’t stop the Phillies. Harper walked; Bohm singled; and Marsh walked to load the bases. Stott grounded to second for a 6-4 fielder’s choice for the first out of the inning, but another run scored to make it 7-0. Stott singled on a ground ball that hit off the glove of the diving second-baseman, Thairo Estrada, and ricocheted into right-center to make it 8-0. Sosa grounded out back to the mound for the second out, but Nick Castellanos scored to give the Phillies a 9-0 lead in just the second inning.

The Giants got in both the run and hit columns in the top of the third, and they scored two more runs in the top of the fifth to make it 9-3. I guess you could say that a positive out of tonight’s blowout is that the Giants got to Suarez for three runs, but this still ended up being the ninth-straight game in which the Giants’ offense was limited to three runs or less.

The Phillies scored four more runs off Randy Rodriguez in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it a real laugher, as they now led it 13-3. Philadelphia tacked on one more off Erik Miller in the bottom of the seventh to make it 14-3. Bob Melvin then brought in Tyler Fitzgerald to throw batting practice in the bottom of the eighth, but the Phillies’ offense seemed to have had enough for one night and went down 1-2-3.

Ranger Suarez went six innings, and he was followed up by Jose Ruiz, who pitched scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth. Phillies Manager Rob Thompson went to the struggling Seranthony Dominguez for a maintenance inning in the top of the ninth, and he of course pitched a scoreless inning.

So, that’s it. Suarez the win, Winn the loss, and the Giants tie their season-high—or shall I say season-low—four games under .500 at 15-19, and they will have to bounce back tomorrow night on ESPN’s Sunday Night Game of the Week. The good news for the Giants is that they will have their ace, Logan Webb, on the mound. First pitch will be at 7:10 p.m. in Philadelphia, 4:10 p.m. back home in San Francisco.

News and Notes:

Catcher Patrick Bailey was indeed played on the 7-Day Concussion Injured List after taking a foul ball to the mask off the bat of Alec Bohm last night, and as mentioned above Blake Sabol was called up and made his 2024 Debut.

As for Tom Murphy, who felt a pop on his knee when going for the wild pitch from Mitch White in the bottom of the second inning, he will undergo an MRI tomorrow. Safe to say it doesn’t look good, and good chance the Giants will have to call up another catcher.

San Francisco Giants starter Jordan Hicks delivers to the Philadelphia Phillies in the bottom of the second inning at Citizens Bank Ballpark on Fri May 3, 2024 (AP News photo)

Friday, May 3, 2024

Citizens Bank Park

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

San Francisco Giants 3 (15-18)

Philadelphia Phillies 4 (22-11)

Win: Matt Strahm (2-0)

Loss: Aaron Hicks (2-1)

Save: Jose Alvarado (6)

Time: 3:00

Attendance: 40,888

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants’ offense wasted more opportunities, and the Phillies got to the undefeated Aaron Hicks to beat the Giants 4-3 in the opener of this four-game wraparound series, as the Giants have now dropped three of the first four games of their road trip.

After dropping the first two games of their three game series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, the Giants scored two runs in the seventh inning to salvage a game in the series yesterday. Now, the Giants were headed to Philadelphia to face the red-hot Phillies, who after winning the National League Pennant in 2022, and getting within a win of the pennant again last season, were off to a 21-11 start.

The Giants sent Jordan Hicks to the mound, and the Phillies went with Aaron Nola, who pitched a scoreless top of the first. As for Hicks, a reliever brought in over the off-season to convert to a starter, he has been off to a great start, as he entered tonight’s game 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA.

Hicks got Kyle Schwarber to fly out to center to start the bottom of the first inning. However, he ran into trouble when he gave up an infield single to Trea Turner and walked Bryce Harper with one out. Hicks then bore down, as he struck out Alec Bohm looking on four pitches, and he got J.T. Realmuto to ground out back to the mound to escape the inning unscathed.

Patrick Bailey and Matt Chapman walked to start the second inning, and after Mike Yastrzemski struck out swinging, Thairo Estrada doubled to center to knock both runners in. As for Bailey, he has taken a foul ball off his mask off the bat of Alec Bohm. After experiencing blurry vision following his walk and run, Bailey had to leave the game.

Hicks pitched a scoreless bottom of the second, which would have been a 1-2-3 inning had it not been for a one-out throwing error by Matt Chapman at third base. The Giants were in business against Nola again in the top of the third, as Michael Conforto and Tom Murphy, the latter of whom came in to catch for Bailey, singled to start the inning.

The Giants had runners at first and second with nobody out and were ready to extend their 2-0 lead, but Chapman grounded into a 5-3 double play, and Yastrzemski swung out swinging to end the inning.

It was another wasted opportunity for the struggling Giants’ offense, and it would prove to be a momentum switch. Schwarber reached on the second error in as many innings for Chapman. Turner struck out looking, but Harper drew his second walk to put runners at first and second for the Phillies with one out.

Bohm then came up and hit a ground ball into left field to score Schwarber and put the Phillies on the board. Realmuto walked to load the bases, and Brandon Marsh singled on a ground ball up the middle to center field to score two and give the Phillies the lead.

Nola threw a 1-2-3 top of the fourth, and Hicks set down the first two men he faced in the bottom of the fourth, but things would get tricky again for Hicks. Turner singled the other way to right and stole second, and then he scored all the way from second on a passed ball by Tom Murphy, which also happened to be ball four to Bryce Harper to make it 4-2 Phillies.

Phillies Manager Rob Thompson lifted Aaron Nola after just four innings for Matt Strahm, who pitched a shutdown 1-2-3 top of the fifth. Hicks was also done after four, as Sean Hjelle came in for the bottom of the fifth, and for Hicks, it was six up, six down in the fifth and sixth.

Mike Yastrzemski reached on a two-out error and got to second on a wild pitch by Seranthony Dominguez, who came in for the sixth, but the Giants wasted another opportunity. Orion Kerkering came in for the seventh and gave up three-straight singles to Nick Ahmed, Jung-hoo Lee and LaMonte Wade Jr. to load the bases with nobody out for the slugger, Jorge Soler.

It was another golden opportunity for the Giants, but Soler grounded into a 6-3 double play. Ahmed scored on the play to make it 4-3 and get the tying run to third, but it was a massive blow to the Giants, and Conforto flew out to right to end the inning with the Phillies still ahead.

Luke Jackson gave up a leadoff single to Realmuto to start the bottom of the seventh, but he retired the next three men in order. Jeff Hoffman came in for the top of the eighth, and threw a 1-2-3 innings while striking out the side. The submariner Taylor Rogers also struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth, though his inning was not a 1-2-3 innings like Hoffman’s was.

The Phillies brought in their closer, Jose Alvarado, who gave up a leadoff single to Thairo Estrada. Ahmed flew out to center, and Lee grounded out to short. Estrada, the tying run, advanced to second on Lee’s groundout to put the tying run in scoring position with two outs. Bob Melvin decided to have Wilmer Flores pinch-hit for Wade, but Flores struck out swinging to end the game.

At the end of the day, it was another tough loss for the Giants, who fall to 15-18. However, the Giants were two or three missed opportunities away from beating one of the best teams in Baseball in the Phillies in their park.

As frustrating as the Giants’ start to the 2024 Season has been, especially with an offense that has wasted many opportunities in the early going, they are a couple of bats away—whether it be midseason acquisitions, or two or three guys in the lineup getting hot—from having a solid offense to bolster a strong pitching rotation that will get even stronger as the season progresses.

It is frustrating for fans and for this writer, but I have confidence this team will eventually get it together at some point later in the season.

Anyway, the Giants will be back at it for the second game of this series Saturday night with Keaton Winn on the mound. First pitch will be at 6:05 p.m. in Philadelphia, 3:05 p.m. back home in San Francisco.

News and Notes:

According to Bob Melvin, Patrick Bailey is feeling better and is not going through concussion protocol. However, with head injuries, nothing is certain, and I would surely expect that the Giants will monitor him again when he gets to the park Saturday.

San Francisco Giants Mike Yastrzemski (5) is greeted at the Giants dugout after hitting a top of the third inning home run against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Thu May 2, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the SF Giants podcast with Michael Duca:

#1 How special is it for Mike Yastrzemski and those who follow to see him come to Fenway Park and hit one out in grampa’s old backyard.

#2 The Giants pitcher Ryan Walker pitched perfect baseball into the sixth inning giving up three hits and one run before leaving talk about what’s been working for him.

#3 Camilo Doval has had picked up his sixth save in the ninth inning of relief. Another reason why the Giants have so much success and confidence in Doval.

#4 San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin said in his post game presser, “Six hits. Scratched three runs out of it today, but there’s still more out there.”

#5 Giants open up a four game series that runs through Monday at Citizens Bank in Philadelphia. First pitch on Friday 3:40pm PDT. RHP Jordan Hicks starts for San Francisco (2-0) and for Philadelphia RHP Aaron Nola (4-1).

Michael Duca does the San Francisco Giants podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

#1