Restructured ’pen nails down victory
As the Giants move into the dusk of an awful season, they finally have the late-inning bullpen setup they long sought, sort of. The names are a little different than anyone could have predicted.
They have sore-armed Mark Melancon pitching the seventh, Hunter Strickland in the eighth and Sam Dyson in the ninth. They combined for three shutout innings in Thursday’s night’s 5-4 victory against the Phillies in the opener of a seven-game homestand.
Nobody could have foreseen this bullpen order when the Giants signed Melancon to a four-year, $62 million contract to close, especially because Dyson with the Rangers at the time.
How they line up in 2018, when Melancon presumably feels better via rest or surgery, will be one of the many intriguing stories next spring. For now, the Giants and manager Bruce Bochy are just enjoying a man with 179 saves working the seventh, a much-improved Strickland in the eighth and Dyson nearly perfect in the ninth.
“That’s how it was supposed to work: get a lead and see these guys come out in the seventh, eighth and ninth and shut the door,” center fielder Denard Span said. “It’s impressive to see and fun to watch. It seems like we hadn’t done that in a while.”
Jeff Samardzija, who won for the fourth time in five starts, confirmed what Bochy said in Florida, that despite Melancon’s two trips to the disabled list, he is pitching with pain in his right elbow.
“Marky coming in and throwing the seventh — we know he doesn’t feel good,” Samardzija said. “... Leadership like that, throughout the team, is what you’ve got to put together for a whole season to win.”
It seems odd to have a player representing such a huge investment pitching in pain during a lost season. The organization has not addressed why Melancon is doing it, whether he is at risk of exacerbating what ails him or if he will need postseason surgery.
Melancon has pitched three shutout innings since coming off the disabled list. On Thursday, he allowed a two-out Freddy Galvis double before retiring Nick Williams on a groundball.
Strickland struck out two of this three hitters and Dyson struck out Cesar Hernandez to end an impressive win that added distance between the Giants, with the third-worst record in baseball, and the Phillies, who rank last. They are four games apart.
Records aside, Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola has been one of baseball’s hottest starters since mid-June. He had a streak of 10 starts of at least six innings with two ore fewer runs allowed, a Phillies record, until the Giants popped him for five runs.
Hunter Pence and Buster Posey hit two-out RBI singles in the third and Jarrett Parker’s second double, in the fifth, scored two more runs in a hilarious bout of baserunning.
Span, at second base after a single and steal, waited to make sure Parker’s drive to center was not caught. Pence, running from first, got a better read and immediately began sprinting. Pence nearly caught Span between second and third and yelled “Go!”
As they ran home, Pence was close enough to pick lint of the back of Span’s uniform. They scored one step ahead of the other.
“Hunter being Hunter,” Span said. “I didn’t hear him. I just felt him. It was fun, though. I”ve never had anybody chase me like that before on the bases.”
Span’s steal was his eighth this season third since Posey caught him at five apiece on the last homestand. Posey needled Span about it ad nauseam. Span let it go.
“You can’t say much when you’re tied with a catcher,” Span said, “but check the tape: I think I got a stolen base off him in 2014.” Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: hschulman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hankschulman