The Mercury News

Giants power past Phillies

Five home runs key rally for 10-7 victory

- By Kerry Crowley kcrowley@bayareanew­sgroup.com

Throughout Gabe Kapler’s two-year tenure as the Phillies manager, he faced constant criticism for the way he managed his pitching staff and received constant blowback for the club’s bullpen blowups.

As fans at Citizens Bank Park are learning this week, Kapler might not have been the problem.

With a six-run eighth inning that featured a pair of three-run home runs from Alex Dickerson and Wilmer Flores, the Giants’ secondyear manager watched his lineup take advantage of the Phillies’ latest bullpen meltdown in a 10-7 victory that clinched a series win.

Led by a pair of home runs from catcher Buster Posey, the Giants hit five homers against the Phillies and enjoyed their best offensive performanc­e of the season. For the second time this year, the Giants overcame an early four-run deficit as Posey and

Tommy La Stella, who launched a two-run homer in the fifth inning, helped chase Phillies starter Zack Wheeler.

The Phillies led 4-0 in the third and 7-3 after the fifth, but the Giants showcased their resilience against setup man Connor Brogdon, who entered the eighth inning with a 12-appearance scoreless streak that spanned 15 innings. A majestic 421-foot home run from Dickerson gave the Giants their first lead of the night before Flores blasted the Giants’ fourth pinch-hit home run of the season to give the club a four-run cushion.

Posey hit multiple home runs in the same game for the fourth time in his career and the first since he homered twice on May 28, 2016 at Coors Field against the Rockies. Posey’s first home run of Tuesday’s game came on the first pitch of the fifth inning, a hanging slider that the Giants catcher drilled 428 feet, marking one of the two longest homers he’s hit in last three seasons.

The Giants’ 2008 first round draft choice then knocked Wheeler, the Giants’ 2009 first round draft choice, out of Tuesday’s game by yanking a 97.6mile per hour sinker that was high and inside into the left field seats in the top of the sixth.

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 ?? PHOTOS: MATT SLOCUM — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? The Giants’ Wilmer Flores, right, celebrates with Austin Slater, center, and Buster Posey, left, after hitting a three-run home run off Phillies pitcher Connor Brogdon during the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game in Philadelph­ia.
PHOTOS: MATT SLOCUM — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Giants’ Wilmer Flores, right, celebrates with Austin Slater, center, and Buster Posey, left, after hitting a three-run home run off Phillies pitcher Connor Brogdon during the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game in Philadelph­ia.
 ??  ?? Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemsk­i cannot reach a pop foul ball by the Phillies’ Rhys Hoskins during the ninth inning.
Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemsk­i cannot reach a pop foul ball by the Phillies’ Rhys Hoskins during the ninth inning.

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