Phils fall short to SF Giants
PHILADELPHIA >> Maikel Franco unleashed more of his game-tying home run magic Friday night, but he might have pulled the trigger on that clutch swing too soon.
The Phillies’ pathetic bullpen still had too many outs to get.
After the red-hot rookie drove a Tim Lincecum offering into the left-field seats to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth, Luis Garcia gave the run back when he grooved a fastball to Buster Posey that landed in the centerfield shrubbery. That run would hold up as the Giants held on for a 5-4 win in the opening game of the series at Citizens Bank Park.
Franco had another chance to deliver a game-tying blast in the bottom of the eighth, but veteran reliever Sergio Romo made him look badly with back-to-back sliders that sent Franco down on strikes. That strikeout followed
a double-play groundout by Ryan Howard, who had given the Phillies an early lead with a two-run homer in the first inning.
The real problem for the Phils on this night was the continued inefficiency of Jerome Williams, who doesn’t help camouflage the bullpen’s issues when he continuously either runs out of steam or completely implodes in the fifth inning. For the seventh time in his last eight starts dating back to the beginning of May, Williams failed to get so much as an out in the sixth inning. This time, he was unable to survive the fifth, as a two-run homer by Justin Maxwell in the fourth erased the Phillies’ 3-1 lead, then the Giants opened the fifth with Joe Panik and Buster Posey getting hits around a Angel Pagan lineout. Those were the eighth and ninth hits of the night for San Fran and pushed Williams’ hits-allowed total for the season to 74 in just 53 1/3 innings, the most of any National League pitcher.
That was enough for Ry ne Sandberg, who brought it rookie Elvis Araujo. The southpaw got Brandon Belt to fly out for the second out, but Brandon Crawford followed with a single to center that put the Giants up, 4-3.
“Starting pitching sets the tone for the game,” Sandberg said. “We got early runs and they weren’t able to hold up. We have to keep adding on and get runs throughout the game.”
The Phils’ best shot to tie it after Posey’s homer was in the bottom of the seventh, when an Andres Blanco walk and Ben Revere single put the tying run at third with one out. Jeff Francoeur hit a fly ball to short right field with Revere breaking to steal second. It proved not to be deep enough to score Blanco, but Chase Utley had the bat taken out of his hands when the Giants smartly realized that Revere didn’t retouch second base after he slid into the bag and had to retreat to first.
TWO THUMBS UP
Matt Duffy should’ve taken another bow after his homer.
Heaven knows Maikel Franco tried.
TWO THUMBS DOWN
If Jerome Williams can’t go five innings effectively, Aaron Nola should be here soon.
Ben Revere’s baserunning gaffe in the seventh cost the Phils.