Moore pitches into 8th, Giants beat Phillies
SAN FRANCISCO » Matt Moore took his time walking off the mound after Giants manager Bruce Bochy came out to replace him in the eighth inning.
Moore wanted to enjoy the ovation from the crowd at AT&T Park, something he hadn’t heard for quite some time.
Moore took a one-hitter into the eighth inning and picked up his first win in nearly two months as San Francisco beat the Philadelphia Phillies 10-2 on Friday night.
“It’s something that I think is one of the coolest parts about playing here, is just how loud it can get and the appreciation coming off the hill,” Moore said. “It was definitely nice to have that.”
Hunter Pence and Brandon Crawford both homered, Pablo Sandoval had an RBI single and Denard Span added three hits and made a nice running catch in center field to help San Francisco to its ninth win in the last 12 games at AT&T Park.
One day after becoming the first team in major league history to reach 11,000 wins as a franchise, the Giants added on by beating the worst team in baseball again.
Moore (4-12) was crisp in his second straight strong start despite four walks, allowing two hits over 7 1/3 innings to win for the first time since June 20.
“He’s got a good rhythm going,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “It looks like he’s playing catch with (catcher Buster Posey), that’s the effort he’s putting in it right now. I think it’s helped his command on all his pitches.”
Moore credited a calmer approach in his last two starts.
“For a lot of the season I was overthrowing,” Moore said. “It’s just too much to be gritting that much through. After the break that was something I was working on, making sure I’m not white-knuckling too much stuff.”
Four relievers combined for five outs to complete the four-hitter.
Jorge Alfaro singled twice and scored for Philadelphia.
Pence doubled and scored as part of a threerun first inning, then hit his 11th home run in the second.
Crawford tacked on with a two-run home run in the third, his 10th, after Sandoval walked. Crawford, who also doubled in the eighth, had been in a 2-for22 slump.
Philadelphia didn’t get a runner past second base until the eighth when Freddy Galvis singled in both runs.
“We got four hits (and) Alfaro had two of them,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. “The bats just ain’t there right now.”
ELFIN PAINED IN LOSS
Starting pitcher Zach Eflin (1-5) allowed six runs and seven hits over five innings for the Phillies and later complained of tightness in his right shoulder. Eflin has lost two of three starts since a two-month stint in the minors. “As the fifth inning came to an end it was more of a precautionary thing to come out because it wasn’t feeling right at that point,” Eflin said.
PHILLIE FANATIC
Posey has hit safely in 20 straight games against Philadelphia, the longest hitting streak of his career against any team.
TRAINER’S ROOM
PHILLIES » Mackanin’s ballclub was one player short after the team placed OF Odubel Herrera on the disabled list with a hamstring injury in a move that is retroactive to Aug. 15. Herrera has a 17-game hitting streak that is the longest active in the majors. A corresponding move is expected before Saturday’s game.