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San Francisco Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: Revenge Against Philly

By Sean Bialaszek

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 02: Andrew McCutchen #22 of the San Francisco Giants gets a high-five from starting pitcher Andrew Suarez #59 after McCutchen ran down a deep fly ball in right center field for the third out of the top of the third inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park on June 2, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 02: Andrew McCutchen #22 of the San Francisco Giants gets a high-five from starting pitcher Andrew Suarez #59 after McCutchen ran down a deep fly ball in right center field for the third out of the top of the third inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park on June 2, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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The San Francisco Giants lost the season series, but they got a measure of revenge by sweeping the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JUNE 02: Andrew McCutchen #22 of the San Francisco Giants gets a high-five from starting pitcher Andrew Suarez #59 after McCutchen ran down a deep fly ball in right center field for the third out of the top of the third inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park on June 2, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JUNE 02: Andrew McCutchen #22 of the San Francisco Giants gets a high-five from starting pitcher Andrew Suarez #59 after McCutchen ran down a deep fly ball in right center field for the third out of the top of the third inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park on June 2, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

3 Up

1 – Starters Setting the Tone

Simply put, Giants’ starting pitchers had not been good entering their second series against the Phillies. It was extremely apparent when they were in Philadelphia, where Giants’ pitching allowed 32 runs in 32 innings (starters allowed 18 runs in 16 innings). Overall in the month of May, San Francisco starters had two outings in which they allowed zero or one run.

In the month of June, they already have three such outings. Chris Stratton got it started on Friday, channeling the pitcher that owned an ERA close to two in the season’s first month. He threw six shutout innings, using his curveball to great effect while striking out seven. Andrew Suarez followed on Saturday with the best start of his young big league career, hurling seven shutout innings and allowing just three hits.

The finale saw Dereck Rodriguez take the mound for his starting debut, and he kept the momentum rolling. He allowed a solo home run to his counterpart, Jake Arrieta, but that was his only blemish (and the only run Philadelphia scored in the entire series). He was the beneficiary when the offense exploded for five runs in the bottom of the sixth, giving him his first career win after a strong effort.

This is great news for a rotation that had fallen on hard times, and will head into a series with division rival Arizona with a lot of momentum. Besides that, their ace Madison Bumgarner returns on Tuesday. Things are looking up.

2 – The Defense

Another area that was lacking for the Giants was their defense. They entered this series with the most errors in the National League, and routinely put themselves into problematic situations because of shoddy defense.

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Much like the starting pitching, the defense stepped up big time. On Friday, Gorkys Hernandez made a stellar running catch in left-center field, robbing Odubel Herrera of extra bases. On Saturday, Andrew McCutchen made one of his best catches as a Giant, taking an RBI triple away from Cesar Hernandez deep in Triple’s Alley. Plus, second base defense was much smoother (more on that in a bit).

3 – Back with a Vengeance

The Giants had some returns this weekend, and they looked fantastic. Joe Panik made it back from thumb surgery much quicker than expected, and showed absolutely no rust in three games against Philly. He had six hits, plus reached twice via walk, while scoring four runs and driving in two more. His scored both runs in Saturday’s win, and had the shutout-breaking hit on Sunday.

Panik’s presence at second base was especially missed, as Giants’ keystoners committed eight errors in his absence. Again, Panik looked like he never left and played a smooth, crisp second base all weekend.

Mark Melancon also made his return to the mound, and looked incredible in his 2018 debut. He struck out all three batters he faced, getting each of them to swing and miss on nasty, diving curveballs. Melancon won’t return to the closer role (at least not yet), but adding him to an already strong and deep bullpen will only make the team that much better.

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