Span’s 10th-inning HR is difference as Giants beat Phillies.
PHILADELPHIA — You only have one shot to make a first impression, and left-hander Matt Moore received his chance in his Giants debut Thursday afternoon.
But when you are a leadoff hitter in a major league lineup, every day provides a fresh opportunity to get off on the right foot. Denard Span certainly made the most of it Thursday, collecting three hits and clubbing a home run in the 10th inning that sent the Giants to a 3-2 victory over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
Span started the road trip amid rumblings that Eduardo Núñez might bump him from his leadoff spot. He responded with his best series as a Giant, going 7 for 15 with two stolen bases and four runs scored — the last one the most significant, as it helped the Giants (62-46) avoid being swept in three games here.
The Giants won for just the second time in 11 road games since the All-Star break.
“I mean, it’s August, so now or never,” said Span, who lofted a down-and-in pitch from Severino Gonzalez and curled it inside the right field foul pole. “We needed this one. This Phillies team played us tough all year. They keep fighting, and the first two games, we had opportunities to win. It’s big to come out of here with at least one.”
Moore gave up a pair of one-run leads and walked six in six innings, but otherwise posted a quality start and flashed high-octane stuff in his first outing since the Giants gave up a glittering pile — Matt Duffy plus two premium prospects — to acquire him from the Tampa Bay Rays.
“They’ve been swinging the bats well, and what? Three hits off him?” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Moore. “Some of those pitches were close. It wasn’t like he was wild-wild. But he regrouped. He didn’t let it get away from him.”
Neither did Santiago Casilla, who stayed in a groove and pitched the 10th to record his 13th save in his last 14 chances. And Núñez, who made two critical errors in the first two games in this series, began the 10th with a sensational stop to help prevent Casilla from breaking a sweat.
Prior to the game, Bochy assured Núñez that he would be the club’s everyday third baseman for the remainder of the season. The manager also remarked on Casilla, one night after the right-hander had given the Giants two lives while prolonging an eventual 12inning loss.
“He’s trying to make a statement that that’s his job, and he’s really elevated his game,” Bochy said of Casilla, who would have lost his closer role if the Giants had acquired Aroldis Chapman or Mark Melancon prior to Monday’s trade deadline.
“I know he had to hear rumors, but we were comfortable with how he was throwing the ball. But ... it’s good to see guys doing what he’s doing, and that’s, ‘I’ll show you.’”
Maybe a little of that applies to Span, too. The center fielder entered the series with an underwhelming .333 on-base percentage, had battled nagging injuries most of the season and acknowledged that the acquisition of Núñez, who made the All-Star team as a Twin and was leading the A.L. in stolen bases when he was traded, made him wonder if he’d have to share the leadoff role or lose some starts.
“I can’t say that’s the reason why I had a good series,” Span said. “I don’t need that stuff to motivate me, to be honest. I’ve been grinding my butt off all year.”
Said Bochy: “Knock on wood, we keep him healthy the rest of the way. You see what he can do in a game like this.”
Span had a hand in all three Giants runs. He singled in the first inning, advanced on Angel Pagan’s walk, tagged up on a fly out and scored on Brandon Crawford’s single. In the fifth, Span’s sacrifice fly scored Joe Panik.
Moore, who acknowledged overthrowing early due to an abundance of adrenaline, coughed up a lead before he recorded his first out. He issued a leadoff walk to Cesar Hernandez, who scampered home on Aaron Altherr’s double.
Of Moore’s season-high six walks, three came to leadoff batters, and two of them scored. But Moore’s stuff illuminated why the Giants valued him so highly. He topped out at 96.3 mph, and he threw 24 of 33 curveballs for strikes, generating 21 swings and just one hit.
“I didn’t realize his curveball was that good,” said Span, who had a direct view from center field. “That was his equalizer right there, his out pitch. I don’t think anybody put a good swing on it all day.”
After Altherr’s double in the first, Moore didn’t allow another hit until the sixth, when the Phillies scored on a leadoff walk, two soft singles and a fielder’s choice.
Span’s home run in the 10th made a winner of Sergio Romo, even though the righthander didn’t officially face a batter. He entered with two outs in the ninth and threw four pitches before catcher Trevor Brown threw out Hernandez as the runner slid past second base.
Romo became the first major league pitcher to receive a victory without fac- ing a batter since the Rockies’ Alan Embree in 2009, and the first Giant since Tyler Walker in ’05.
Although Moore didn’t get a win in his debut, he served as a stopper of sorts — and expects to hear plenty more of the postgame victory music mix.
“I got the vibe that something good is right about to happen,” Moore said. “Some of the conversations I’ve had with the everyday guys, they know it’s going to happen. They believe it. I don’t see that panic or that urgency that can come over you. They just know something good is about to go their way.”
But Span made his own luck in the 10th, lofting his fifth homer of the season into the right field seats. For more on the Giants, see the Giants Extra blog at blogs.mercurynews. com/Giants.