Giants rally, lose anyway on walk-off single
For the second consecutive day, the Giants mounted a spirited comeback against a shaky Phillies bullpen, but in Wednesday’s series finale, San Francisco’s own relievers couldn’t shut the door.
The Phillies prevented the Giants from earning their first sweep at Citizens Bank Park since 2004 with a ninth-inning rally against Wandy Peralta, who walked leadoff batter Bryce Harper before giving up a walkoff single to catcher Andrew Knapp in a 6-5 loss.
A win in Philadelphia on Wednesday would have moved the Giants six games above .500 for the first time since the 2016 season, which is the last time the club made the playoffs.
“I thought we played some good baseball and I think our offense in this series began to gel a little bit and show the type of firepower that we have,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “At the same time, I think there’s better baseball in us and I’m never going to be satisfied going 3-3 on a road trip.”
With the Giants trailing 4-1 in the seventh inning, Darin Ruf came off the bench and reminded his former team how dangerous of a hitter he can be with a pinch-hit, three-run home run over the center-field wall. Ruf’s third home run of the season marked the Giants’ major league-best fifth pinch-hit homer of the year, which is one more than they hit when they led the big leagues with four pinch-hit homers in 2020.
“You want to play well and come out on top against teams that you have a history with, but it’s short-lived and you’ve got to move onto your next opponent in Miami and hope you take care of business there,” Ruf said.
The seventh inning should have ended when Mike Yastrzemski hit a routine flyball to left field, but the ball popped out of Andrew McCutchen’s glove and extended the inning. After the Phillies intentionally walked Evan Longoria, Alex Dickerson hit the first pitch he saw from reliever JoJo Romero into center field to bring home Yastrzemski and give the Giants their first lead of the game.
Since joining the Giants in June 2019, Dickerson has been among the team’s most productive offensive players, but his single off Romero was only his eighth base hit against a left-hander in his tenure with the club.
The Giants were unable to hold the 5-4 lead for long as Harper answered with a twoout solo home run against rookie Camilo Doval to even the score in the bottom of the inning. It’s possible the Giants’ lead would have been bigger if second baseman Donovan Solano was able to score on a two-out bloop single from Dickerson in the sixth, but Solano suffered a right calf strain while run
ning from second to third.
Kapler said Solano will likely need to be placed on the injured list while he recovers, which will weaken the Giants’ bench. The Giants’ manager also said he took shortstop Brandon Crawford out in the ninth inning as a “precautionary measure” as Crawford was experiencing tightness on his right side.
Starter Anthony DeSclafani’s dominant start to the season hit a bump in the road at Citizens Bank Park, where the Giants right-hander dealt with rapidly changing weather conditions and a lengthy second inning that required him to throw more than 30 pitches.
The right-hander had allowed just two runs in his first three starts of the season, but gave up a three-run home run on a 3-2 sinker to former No. 1 overall draft pick Mickey Moniak in the bottom of the second. Moniak’s first career homer sailed into the left-field bleachers and put the Giants in an early hole for the second consecutive game.
“I just think generally speaking our pitchers fell behind in counts,” Kapler said. “This is a tough league when you’re in 3-1 and 2-1 counts, 2-0 counts, and we just have to attack the strike zone. We have to throw a lot of strikes and we’re not the type of pitching staff that can work from behind.”
DeSclafani wasn’t the only successful Giants pitcher who had a tough day against the Phillies as left-hander Caleb Baragar’s streak of 22 consecutive appearances without allowing a run came to an end in the bottom of the sixth. Baragar picked up a pair of strikeouts to strand Phillies rookie Nick Maton at third base, but allowed his first run of the season when Dickerson misplayed Maton’s oneout line drive into left field that rolled all the way to the wall and allowed Brad Miller to score from first base.
“I think if (Dickerson) was here, he’d tell you the same, just to be more aggressive to the baseball and go all out,” Kapler said. “We like to see our outfielders make a decision, go with conviction and lay out for the baseball.”