Phillies 10, Giants 2: Crushing loss part of first series lost since June
PHILADELPHIA — Sam Selman had a good afternoon even if he gave up a home run.
The 28yearold lefthander had almost quit baseball after seven seasons in the minors with Kansas City before the Giants signed him over the winter. In a 102 loss to the Phillies on Thursday, Selman made his majorleague debut in front of dad Jack and mom Cynthia after he arrived in Philly in the wee hours and met his folks for breakfast.
“My mom started to cry when the eggs were served,” Selman said. “The waiter had no idea what was going on.”
Scrambled eggs with a side of tears might become the norm with the Giants as prospects are brought in over the final two months, even in the midst of a postseason race.
President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has fulfilled one of his goals, to make the roster more versatile by populating it with players who have minorleague options.
Tired and struggling Giants can be sent down. Others can step up from TripleA.
The downside for the players is the shuttle effect. They don’t know from one day to the next how long they will stay in the majors once they arrive, as pitcher Dereck Rodriguez knows all too well.
Rodriguez already has been optioned and recalled three times this season and had a foreboding sense that he would be demoted again after he was slammed for seven runs (four earned) in a loss that gave the Giants their first series defeat since they lost two of three to Colorado at home, June 2426.
They end their ninegame trip with three games at Coors Field, starting Friday night, and will need fresh arms. Rodriguez threw 69 pitches in threeplus innings. He can’t help them in Denver.
Asked if he feels extra pressure pitching knowing the engine is running on the Sacramento shuttle, “You can’t think about it, but it’s hard not to think about it, especially when I had a good outing last time and they sent me down.”
Being optioned after a win tells Rodriguez that the moves aren’t personal.
“It still bothers you, though,” he said. “It kind of sucks that regardless of what you do out there, they still have a plan and they have their minds made up or whatnot. But it’s just part of the game. You’ve got to accept it and go with it. … We’re professionals. We’ve just got to figure it out and find a way.”
Thursday’s loss essentially was settled in a threerun second inning. Rodriguez had some bad luck: a third strike that wasn’t called, a groundball single that might have ended the inning with a double play had Scott Kingery hit it a foot to the left.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Brandon Crawford tried to keep a hard, sinking liner by pitcher Jake Arrieta in front of him. But the ball deflected several steps to his left. Crawford retrieved the ball, but not in time for his throw to first to retire Arrieta. The error allowed a run to score and extended the inning for Cesar Hernandez, who hit a tworun double.
The Phillies pounded Rodriguez for two more runs in the third and two more in the fourth.
In the middle of everything was catcher J.T. Realmuto, who singled, doubled and hit a threerun homer in three consecutive innings. The homer, off reliever Andrew Suarez in the fourth, gave Philly a 90 lead.
Kevin Pillar sustained what manager Bruce Bochy described as a charley horse as he made a leaping attempt to catch Realmuto’s homer. Pillar crumpled to the warning track but stayed in the game. But Crawford was removed when his throwing shoulder stiffened. He jammed it diving for Kingery’s ball in the second inning. His status for Friday is uncertain.
Selman pitched the fifth. He struck out his first bigleague hitter (Maikel Franco), then allowed a Roman Quinn homer for Philadelphia’s final run.
Cynthia Selman cried again when she saw her son after the game, not about the homer, though. They were still tears of joy.