SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants returned home from New York on Monday to play the Philadelphia Phillies in an afternoon Memorial Day game, and shortstop Brett Wisely obviously brought his scorching-hot bat back with him from the East Coast.
The 25-year-old rookie had two more hits and RBIs in the Giants’ 8-4 victory over Philadelphia, handing the Phillies just their third loss in the last 10 games.
Starting in place of fellow rookie Marco Luciano, Wisely has gone 9-for-17 with five RBIs in his last four games.
Those big hits and Wisely’s steady fielding, plus three Phillies errors, helped the Giants – finally – win a game without late-game heroics.
“This offseason I wanted to get more tall with my stance and get more length in my swing, and I feel like that’s helping me a lot with sliders and also with seeing the ball up,” Wisely said. “I’m not chasing as much low either, and I have to really key in on that.”
Even then, San Francisco overcame some early troubles before improving its record to 28-27.
Reigning Cy Young winner Blake Snell failed to make it out of the fifth inning, LaMonte Wade had to leave the game in the fifth with an injury, and the team blew an early three-run lead.
San Francisco Giants’ LaMonte Wade Jr. reacts to an injury after hitting a double against the Philadelphia Phillies during the fifth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Monday, May 27, 2024. Wade left the game following the play. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
The Giants returned to the Bay Area after a six-game East Coast road trip that featured some crazy comebacks, blown leads, and a walk-off hit. One run decided four games, and another involved a five-run comeback.
Welcoming the hard-hitting Phillies, the Giants got off to a hot start.
Snell breezed through the first two innings, giving up just one double and striking out three.
The southpaw, who is awaiting the birth of his first child, mixed a 97 mph fastball, a changeup that sat in the mid-80s, and a slow curve to keep the Phillies off balance.
“It’s such a mental battle when you’re pitching,” Snell said. “The first couple of innings, you’ve got an aggressive mindset … second time through the lineup, I’m a little more cautious.”
He enjoyed an early 3-0 lead after Mike Yazstremski doubled in two runs and shortstop Wisely singled home another in the second inning.
Snell’s groove was derailed in the third, starting with Kyle Schwarber’s two-run, no-doubt-about-it home run over the right field wall. His 10th homer of the season cut the deficit to one.
Philadelphia’s Edmundo Sosa tripled off Snell in the next inning before he raced home on a wild pitch to tie the game.
Snell didn’t get much help from his defense in the fourth inning against Whit Merrifield, who safely reached third when Giants third baseman Matt Chapman failed to field a routine grounder.
San Francisco Giants pitcher Blake Snell works against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Monday, May 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
It was a rare mistake for the elite defender whose +8 DRS is third among all third-basemen.
Johan Rojas gave the Phillies the lead by blooping a full-count four-seam Snell fastball into center field.
Snell got through the rest of the 35-pitch fourth but was replaced by righthander Randy Rodriguez in the fifth. Snell struck out seven but allowed five hits and four runs in four innings.
“Traditionally he’s a bit of a slow starter, and then once he gets his footing, he takes off like he did last year,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s had an uneven spring and an uneven start to the season, and then an IL, and right now he’s waiting for a baby. There’s a lot going on, but he’s not going to give an excuse for the performance.”
Rodriguez, who got his first win, Erik Miller, and Ryan Walker came out of the bullpen to finish the game for a team that does not have a probable starter listed for Tuesday and may need to rely on those arms again in the second game of the series.
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LaMonte Wade Jr. doubled in the fifth inning but suffered a left hamstring injury on an attempted slide into second base and had to be helped off the field by team personnel. He was replaced by Wilmer Flores, and Melvin later said Wade will have a MRI tomorrow and that a stint on the IL is almost a certainty.
Those groans from the Memorial Day crowd turned into cheers when Thairo Estrada took advantage of an Alec Bohm error to tie the game at 4-4.
Patrick Bailey hit a sacrifice fly into deep left to give the Giants the 5-4 lead, and Wisely drove in another to pad out the lead in the sixth. The Giants added two more with a Heliot Ramos single to finish the scoring.
San Francisco Giants’ Heliot Ramos (17) hits a two-run single in front of Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto during the seventh inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Monday, May 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
