AT&T PARK — For the second straight game the Giants starting pitching floundered, leaving the offense unable catch up as San Francisco once again fell to the Phillies 6-2.
Philadelphia was able to capitalize on San Francisco’s mistakes early.
Chase Utley, the second batter of the game, hit an infield grounder which Giants starter Tim Lincecum was unable to handle.
Lincecum threw it wide of first base, allowing Utley to end up on second. Michael Young walked, and Ryan Howard singled in Utley, giving the Phillies an early lead.
It didn’t take long for Philadelphia to add more runs. Laynce Nix and Ben Revere led off the second inning with back-to-back singles. After starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick bunted them over, Jimmy Rollins grounded out to bring in Nix.
Utley followed that up with an RBI single, giving the Phillies a 3-0 lead after just an inning and a half.
Despite being down early, the Giants offense kept it close for a couple of innings. Brandon Belt led off the bottom of the third with a single, and Brandon Crawford followed up with a bloop double down the left-field line.
With runners on second and third, Angel Pagan — returning to the line-up after a couple of days off with a hamstring injury — hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Belt. Marco Scutaro doubled to bring in Crawford, cutting the Phillies lead to 3-2.
But the Phillies offense wasn’t done with Lincecum.
Utley would get a run back in the top of the fifth, launching Lincecum’s first pitch of the inning over the wall in right field for his seventh home run of the year.
Lincecum continues to struggle against teams that aren’t the San Diego Padres. Against San Diego, Timmy is 1-1 with a 1.36 ERA. Against all other teams he’s faced this year – the Dodgers, Rockies, Cubs, Diamondbacks, and now Phillies – he’s 1-1 with a 6.42 ERA.
Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum
“The lack of consistency, making a great pitch and then not repeating it, that’s the frustrating part. It was more about me just leaving pitches up in the zone.”
With one out in the seventh, Rollins singled before Young doubled him home, extending Philadelphia’s lead to 5-2.
Utley says his team is playing good team baseball, and that’s why they’re winning:
Phillies second baseman Chase Utley
Audio: Jen Cosgriff/SFBay
“It seems like one through nine is contributing. We’re getting guys over, we’re putting bunts down. We’re definitely doing the little things right now, which is big, especially against a team like this.”
Jose Mijares pitched the eighth and ninth innings for San Francisco, giving up a final run to the Phillies, a Ryan Howard solo shot to center field.
For the second night in a row, the San Francisco offense was unable to muster anything beyond a couple of runs. But unlike Monday night when they left no one on base, the Giants squandered opportunities and left five men on base.
Manager Bruce Bochy said after the game:
Giants manager Bruce Bochy
“We just gotta get these bats going. We’re getting shut down. It makes it tough when you don’t do a lot offensively. … You come out here, fight tomorrow. That’s all you can do.”
Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick was very efficient, giving up just two runs, no walks, striking out six over seven innings. He threw just 88 pitches, 61 of them strikes. He’s now 4-1 with a 2.09 ERA on the season:
Phillies starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick
Audio: Jen Cosgriff/SFBay
“I always love baseball, but obviously when you win, it’s more fun. … I’m feeling good. I feel like every time we go out there we’re gonna win a game…You can’t take anything for granted, that’s for sure. Just going to come in tomorrow and get better tomorrow.”
The Giants look to avoid a rare sweep at home Wednesday, with left-hander Barry Zito facing Phillies right-hander Jonathan Pettibone. Zito is 3-0 with a 0.34 ERA this season at AT&T Park, giving up just one run in 26 innings.
Notes
Tim Lincecum threw 7 full innings, matching his season high. … Marco Scutaro went 2-for-4 with a RBI double, extending his hitting streak to seven games. He is batting .462 (12-for-26) with seven runs scored during the streak. … Brandon Crawford went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. He was 2-for-his-last-32 at the plate prior to tonight’s game. … Kyle Kendrick’s streak of 25 scoreless innings on the road was snapped by Marco Scutaro’s RBI double in the third inning. … Chase Utley went 3-for-5 with a solo home run, two RBIs, and two runs scored.
