The Giants entered Philadelphia on Tuesday with the chance to take advantage of a Phillies team in disarray, but it was San Francisco that left Citizens Bank Park with a 7-0 loss.
Just one day after the Phillies fired manager Rob Thomson and replaced him with Don Mattingly in the interim, the Giants rolled into town for a three-game series on the heels of a successful homestand against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins, where they went 4-2.
Their momentum didn’t last, as even though things got off to a good start when right-hander Tyler Mahle showed off his athleticism to end the bottom of the first inning, beating out Trea Turner in a footrace to complete a wild double play and keep it a 0-0 game.
Despite the spark, the Giants weren’t able to get anything going against Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo. Philadelphia didn’t have much success against Mahle, either, until the bottom of the fourth inning, when a Turner single and two walks loaded the bases for Brandon Marsh, who hit an RBI single for the game’s first run.
The Phillies added to the damage in the sixth, when Bryce Harper drove in Turner with an RBI double that dropped in out of Heliot Ramos’ reach near the left-field line. Adolis García then made it 4-0 with a two-run double that knocked Mahle (5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) from the game.
Giants manager Tony Vitello brought in Matt Gage to face Marsh, who popped out to Matt Chapman at third base. But then Gage walked Bryson Stott, and Alex Bohm made it 5-0 with an RBI double that scored García.
Gage stayed in the game and retired the next two batters to get out of the inning, but the Giants couldn’t form an answer against Luzardo, who recorded his longest outing of the season (7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K) before Orion Kerkering came in for the eighth inning.
The Phillies added two more runs in the bottom half of the frame to make it 7-0. First, Marsh hit a leadoff single off Blake Tidwell, then stole second before scoring on a two-out single by Justin Crawford. Then, Turner singled in Carter before Tidwell got out of the inning on a Kyle Schwarber pop-up.
San Francisco’s offense failed to show any signs of life in the eventual shutout loss. Only two players, Luis Arraez and Heliot Ramos, got hits in the loss — both doubles — and served as San Francisco’s only baserunners. Chapman, who turned 33 on Tuesday, went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.
Logan Webb and the Giants will look to bounce back from Tuesday’s series-opening loss in Game 2 on Wednesday, with first pitch scheduled for 3:40 p.m. PT.