SF Giants follow up memorable win with loss they’d rather forget

The Phillies rocked the Giants for 13 runs and held them to four hits in a victory so complete that Mike Yastrzemski had to take the mound for an inning. And also get rocked.

The good vibes from Tuesday’s game-winning inside-the-park home run by Patrick Bailey lasted less than 24 hours. The Philadelphia Phillies scored four runs off Justin Verlander in the first six innings, then blew the game open against relievers Tristan Beck and Scott Alexander, who may not be long for the big league roster. Even Mike Yastrzemski took damage, giving up two runs in his second career appearance on the mound in a 13-0 San Francisco Giants loss.

The game was so bad that the SF Giants NBC Sports Bay Area X account couldn’t find a single highlight to post. The team’s official account ignored the game entirely apart from the final score. No one involved with the Giants wanted to leave any permanent record of what happened Wednesday afternoon.

Verlander fell to 0-7 as a Giant, though he really didn’t pitch all that badly. He struck out five Phillies in his first three innings and the first earned run came after Alec Bohm reached on an infield single and went to second on a Matt Chapman error, which came after first baseman Wilmer Flores completely missed his throw.

Bohm would go on to score on a J.T. Realmuto single.

In the 4th, the Giants old friend Bryce Harper, who didn’t sign with the Giants in 2019 because the team was forcing out Bruce Bochy, led off with his 10th home run of the season.

Harper had a massive game, going 4-for-6 with a home run and three doubles off three different pitchers. Somehow the only pitcher to hold him hitless was Yaz.

In the 5th, Verlander got in trouble when Chapman drew another tough error on what could have been an inning-ending double play on another errant-but-catchable throw. But after Trea Turner stole second to give the Phillies two runners in scoring position, Verlander got Kyle Schwarber to fly out to deep right to end the inning.

Meanwhile, Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo (8-5) was shutting the Giants down. He went seven innings, giving up three hits and walking one, while striking out seven Giants. The closest thing to a rally the Giants had came in the second inning when Wilmer Flores singled and Casey Schmitt walked. Then Luzardo struck out Jung Hoo Lee and Luis Matos, and retired the final 10 batters he faced before leaving after seven innings.

The game got out of hand starting in the top of the 6th, though since the Giants got only one hit the rest of the way, it didn’t ultimately matter. Harper led off with a double, then a wild pitch and a Nick Castellanos single brought him home. Castellanos reached for an 88 MPH slider out of the strike zone, and the unlucky Verlander gave up another run.

Then Castellanos stole second, catcher Andrew Knizner threw the ball away, and Max Kepler brought him home with a sac fly.

That ended Verlander’s afternoon, and after a solid inning from Joey Lucchesi, Beck came in to get hammered. He gave up two hits Tuesday night in his first big league appearance in over three weeks, but Wednesday was a disaster.

Harper led off with a double and the next four Phillies followed with singles. Bohm’s RBI single bounced through the middle, Realmuto (3-for-5, two RBIs) knocked in the Phillies’ sixth run with a line-drive single, and the first out Beck recorded was a sacrifice fly.

Beck’s final line was 0.1 IP, 5 hits, and 6 runs, all earned. His ERA jumped to 8.10 for the season.

Scott Alexander came after Beck walked the bases loaded, and after an RBI groundout from Turner, Kyle Schwarber hit his second home run of the series, 29th of the season, and the 313th of his career, more than Pudge Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez, and Al Simmons. Watch out, Reggie Smith, Jeromy Burnitz, and Ron Cey! Both Phillies home runs were opposite-field laser shots, a departure from Schwarber’s massive Splash Hit from Tuesday night.

In the 9th, trailing 11-0, Yastrzemski showed off an unconventional arsenal of pitches, including a 56 MPH slider, a 66 MPH curveball, and a fastball that touched 77 MPH, so slow that it registered as a changeup. But after loading the bases, Yaz got two groundouts, albeit for RBIs, and got Harper to pop out. When Brett Wisely forced Chapman to end the game, the Giants all seemed relieved to get a day off before welcoming the Dodgers to town Friday.

The good news is that a 13-0 loss still just counts as one loss in the standings, even if Wednesday’s loss felt like two or three. The Giants are still 6-3 in July, still five games back in the NL West, and still holding on to the final wild-card berth in the National League. And hey, the bullpen is rested!

Except for Yaz. He may have thrown only 21 pitches, but when you’re sending in heat like that, sometimes you need a whole year off between relief appearances.