The struggling Philadelphia Phillies got a masterful start from Jesus Luzardo Tuesday night. He held the San Francisco Giants to two baserunners and three total bases in seven innings of work, striking out eight including a hat trick of Matt Chapman. The only thing he didn’t go was close, leaving with a five-run lead after 88 pitches in the Phillies’ 7-0 victory.
After all, Luzardo (2-3) started the game and left with a big lead. In this game, by rule, Jesus didn’t save.
Giants starter Tyler Mahle dropped to 1-4 in a game where he pitched quite well for five innings, holding the potent Phillies lineup to three hits and a single run, after a Trea Turner single, two walks, and a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Brandon Marsh.
Put it on the board@Toyota x #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/miYwBojOYp
But the wheels came off in the 6th, when Willy Adames bobbled Turner’s grounder up the middle and the Phillies shortstop reached on an infield hit, one of his four hits in the game. After Mahle walked Kyle Schwarber for the second straight time, Bryce Harper doubled in Turner to make it a 2-0 game, then Adolis Garcia followed with another double to push Philly’s lead to 4-0 and chase Mahle.
Just gonna drop this in real quick pic.twitter.com/1KvK49nDph
How bout a Doli double 😤 pic.twitter.com/qDJEqoXhII
Both doubles came on Mahle splitters that broke right over the center of the plate. His final line was 5 IP, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 3K and his ERA rose to 5.87. Matt Gage relieved and let Garcia score on an Alec Bohm double, which was the Phillies’ third RBI on balls hit towards Heliot Ramos.
At the same time, it didn’t really matter what Mahle did in a game where the Giants got only two hits. Luzardo, Orion Kerkering, and Tim Mayza combined to retire the Giants’ final 17 hitters and only two Giants managed to hit the ball out of the infield after Luis Arraez doubled in the 4th inning. For the game, the Giants left the infield only four times, including a leadoff double by Ramos followed by three straight strikeouts on Luzardo sweepers in the 4th.
Chapman had the worst night, earning the dreaded Golden Sombrero by striking out four times in a game. Patrick Bailey struck out twice, dropping his batting average to .143 before manager Tony Vitello pinch-hit Jerar Encarnacion for him in the 9th. Who also struck out.
Philadelphia added on the their lead in the 8th inning after Brandon Marsh singled and stole second with two outs. That may or may not violate the unwritten rules of baseball, which we’ll know if Marsh gets beaned in the second inning of Wednesday’s game.
After Marsh’s steal, Justin Crawford singled him and came around to score on Turner’s fourth hit of the night, a single off daywalker Blade Tidwell that completed the night’s scoring.
Make it a four-hit night for Trea! pic.twitter.com/zFStIs99AO
Perhaps the Phillies got a boost from Tuesday morning’s dismissal of former manager Rob Thomson. Bench coach Don Mattingly took over as interim manager and is now 1-0 as skipper of the Phillies, whose even-keeled fans will surely give their new leader plenty of patience and support.
Or perhaps everyone looks good against the Giants anemic offense. How do they get back on track? We suggest cheese steaks for everyone.