After beginning the Don Mattingly era with a much-needed victory, the Philadelphia Phillies hope to ride the momentum into Wednesday night’s matchup with the visiting San Francisco Giants.
Philadelphia entered Tuesday with a league-worst-tying 9-19 record, prompting the team to part ways with manager Rob Thomson.
Mattingly was promoted from bench coach to replace Thomson on an interim basis — and the early results overwhelmingly were positive.
Jesus Luzardo allowed just two hits over seven scoreless innings, while Trea Turner spurred the offense with four hits in the Phillies’ 7-0 victory over the Giants on Tuesday. Adolis Garcia drove in two runs, while Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm each added two hits and an RBI in the lopsided triumph.
“It feels great, obviously, for us to win, and not necessarily for me,” said Mattingly, 65, a former major league manager with both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins “… It’s really about our club, and it’s a good win for us, as a team. Hopefully, this is the start of us playing better baseball.”
Turner had not recorded a multi-hit game since April 12, while Bohm (.157), Kyle Schwarber (.190) and Bryson Stott (.213) are among the Phillies with lower-than-expected batting averages this season.
“Tonight was a good start,” Turner said. “We’ve got to keep doing what we did. We played a great team game today. Everyone contributed.”
For his part, Luzardo had not worked seven innings in a game all season. However, he was at his best against a Giants team that entered with seven wins in its previous 10 games.
“We obviously could have done things better, but you can’t take away from the way Luzardo was throwing the ball,” San Francisco manager Tony Vitello said.
Wednesday’s pitching matchup will feature two aces who have not been at their best this season.
Philadelphia left-hander Cristopher Sanchez (2-2, 2.94 ERA) has won only once since Opening Day and is coming off a rough start against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday in a game in which he gave up six runs and a career-high 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings. Sanchez got a no-decision in his team’s 8-7 loss in 10 innings.
“I just tried to execute the plan that we had, stay as long as I could in the game,” he said through an interpreter. “They jumped on their plan, and they got me.”
Sanchez also was hit hard by San Francisco on April 7, when the Giants tagged him for four runs (two earned) and 11 hits in five innings in a 6-0 victory. That loss dropped Sanchez to 2-1 with a 1.82 ERA in six lifetime games against the Giants.
Wednesday’s scheduled starter for San Francisco, right-hander Logan Webb (2-3, 4.86 ERA), yielded three runs in seven innings in his last start — a 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.
“I honestly thought that was one of the better games I’ve thrown this year,” Webb said, adding that he’s “still working, still trying to get back to what I expect of myself.”
Webb is 0-1 with a 6.19 ERA in three career outings (all starts) against the Phillies. He did not face them when the teams met in San Francisco last month.
–Field Level Media
