This was not what I expected when the Phillies rolled into tow on Monay with a record of 38-18 and an All-Star line up with no holes. Yesterday the Giants won their 10th game in 12 tries by a score of 1-0 in ten innings when Luis Matos hit a sacrifice fly to score Tyler Fitzgerald from third base after he had advanced to third on a sac fly in the previous at bat. The Giants executed some opportunistic baserunning and situational hitting in a crucial moment after failing to do so in the bottom of the ninth when they had runners on first and second with nobody out in a scoreless game.
Patrick Bailey would pop-up. So would Jorge Soler. The two big boppers (along with Chapman and Estrada) went down quietly and the Phillies sent the game into extras. This was not a good night for the Giants bats overall. Zach Wheeler pitched six shutout innings and the Phillies hurlers struck out the Giants 13 times in the game. The Giants also got screwed by some horrible strike calls while they were at bat, particularly in the bottom of third inning.
The story of the game, in my book, was the Giants pitching. This, as I wrote yesterday, was a bullpen game because the Giants had not named a starter in advance. They decided to use Eric Miller as the “starter” for one inning. Boy did he look good despite one walk. His stuff plays elite and if I am the Giants I do everything to convert him to a starting pitcher asap. He is too good for this role. I said it before and I will say it again. I understand why the Giants use a reliever to start and pitch one inning but I hate it. They do it to thwart the matchups by bringing in another pitcher who pitches right or left, depending on the opener. But in the case of yesterday’s game it was pointless because the Phillies use more or less the same line up every game. The Giants could have kept Miller in their for at least two more innings. Instead they burned him for only one inning and now who knows when he will be available again. It’s madness and akin to baseball malpractice on multiple fronts.
This is not to say the Giants did not pitch well. As a matter of fact, against what I consider the best line up in the game the Giants bullpen committee of Miller, Taylor Rogers, Spencher Howard, Tyler Rogers and Sean Hjelle shut out and shut down the Philadelphians in dominant fashion. The Phillies really only had one or two rallies which the pitchers were able to work out of. Together they gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out nine Phillies. That’s phenomenal from a bunch that has taken its knocks at points this season. That’s also quite achievement without Walker, Doval or Rodriquez, the three strongest most dominant arms in the pen. In short the Giants stole this game. I think the Phillies might have been partying a bit too hard in North Beach on Monday night. Or maybe they spent too much time at Wilson and Wilson Private Detective Agency, one of my favorite bars in the world. At any rate the Giants won and are now 29-27.
As Mike Krukow said after the win: “This is not the same Giants team that got swept in a four-game series in Philadelphia earlier this season.”
Trenton Brooks Makes MLB Debut
Trenton Brooks was called up from Sacramento and played first base to make his Major League debut in yesterday’s game. He went 0-2.
The Highlights
The big sac fly:
This team rn >>> pic.twitter.com/idqDoF3mvb
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) May 29, 2024
Bailey Gets Another One:
From his ANKLES 😱 pic.twitter.com/rIJX3pehXi
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) May 29, 2024
Today’s Game
Today the boys in Orange and Black play for a sweep of the Phils with a 12:45 PM game. It will be Kyle Harrison (4-1, 3.90) facing Christopher Sanchez (2-3, 3.15).
