Coming off their best offensive performance since last July, the Philadelphia Phillies will look to extend their recent hot streak and take the series Sunday night when they host the San Francisco Giants.
Winners of four straight and eight of their past nine games, the Phillies posted a 14-3 win over the scuffling Giants on Saturday in Game 2 of their four-game series, scoring their most runs since a 19-run game against the Washington Nationals on July 1, 2023. The Phillies also extended their modest lead over the second-place Atlanta Braves in the National League East to 1 1/2 games.
Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson’s team scored nine runs in the first two innings of Saturday’s game, a surge that followed a 70-minute rain delay. The stalled first-pitch time didn’t seem to hinder Phillies starter Ranger Suarez, who improved to 6-0 after six innings of three-run ball. Suarez’s ERA is just 1.72 through seven starts this year.
“We had some good at-bats up and down the lineup,” Thomson said. “We’re getting good pitching, timely hitting and getting different people to contribute every night. That’s the sign of a good team. We have to stay humble and just keep grinding out games.”
Thomson and the Phillies hope to see the pitching success continue on Sunday when veteran right-hander Taijuan Walker (1-0, 8.53 ERA) gets the start. The 31-year-old earned a win in his season debut against the San Diego Padres last Sunday despite allowing six earned runs over 6 1/3 innings. He is 3-3 with a 4.40 ERA in nine career starts against San Francisco.
The current winning streak is coming at a good time for the Phillies, who got word that shortstop Trea Turner is expected to miss six weeks with a hamstring injury suffered Friday.
“I’ve never really had anything like this,” Turner said. “Just a freak thing, I guess.”
Turner was enjoying a .343 batting average to go along with 10 stolen bases in the young season.
As for the Giants, life away from Oracle Park in San Francisco has proved to be unkind.
After dropping two of three in Boston and now a pair in Philadelphia, the team has been outscored 29-11 since Tuesday. The Giants are 6-12 on the road and will head to Colorado for three games after the series with the Phillies concludes Monday.
Saturday’s pitching performance certainly didn’t help things, as Giants starter Keaton Winn recorded just two outs before being pulled after 39 pitches and five earned runs.
“I would have liked to have (Winn) finish the first inning,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “But at 39 pitches, he gets into a pitch-count battle with the next guy, and it’s just too many.”
As the Giants hope for better luck on Sunday, right-hander Logan Webb (3-2, 2.98 ERA) will take the mound. After posting consecutive scoreless outings, Webb got through just 3 2/3 innings Monday, giving up four runs against the Red Sox in his most recent outing.
Webb, the 2023 National League Cy Young Award runner-up, has a 5.25 ERA in two career outings against the Phillies. He hasn’t recorded any decisions.
–Field Level Media
