The San Francisco Giants have one of the top bullpens in the majors. And that group likely will be put to the test on Thursday when the Giants play a doubleheader against the host Philadelphia Phillies.
The middle contest of a scheduled three-game series was rained out Wednesday, leading to a day/night doubleheader on get-away day for both teams.
Even after the starting time of Wednesday’s game was pushed up in hopes of beating the rain, the postponement was made well in advance of warm-ups. Therefore, scheduled starters Logan Webb (2-3, 4.86 ERA) of the Giants and Cristopher Sanchez (2-2, 2.94) of the Phillies now are scheduled to start Game 1 on Thursday.
The Giants would not commit to their regularly scheduled starter, right-hander Adrian Houser (0-3, 7.36), in the nightcap, however, given the possibility of a doubleheader roster addition.
The Phillies made no announcement on their starter for the second game, but it likely will be rookie right-hander Andrew Painter (1-2, 5.25 ERA).
Wednesday’s rainout gave Don Mattingly an extra day to celebrate his first win as Phillies manager, a 7-0 romp over the Giants in Tuesday’s series opener. He wasn’t surprised at the brand of baseball his players displayed in the immediate aftermath of a 1-11 stretch that cost Rob Thomson his job.
“When you have this type of talent, it’s there and it’s coming,” Mattingly said after Tuesday’s win. “You could feel this coming.”
Because of the rain, both teams got a full-bullpen break Wednesday.
The Giants are, statistically, one of the top bullpens in baseball. They rank third in ERA (3.06) and fourth in batting average allowed (.212).
One of the two bullpen losses came April 6 when the Phillies put up four runs in the seventh inning of the clubs’ series opener in San Francisco, flipping a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 lead. Philadelphia went on to win the game by that score.
Houser and Painter were the starting pitchers in that game.
Houser was in line to record his first win as a member of the Giants when he left the earlier home game against the Phillies with a 4-2 lead. This will be his fifth career start and 10th career appearance against the Phillies, having gone 1-2 with a 4.28 ERA.
Facing the Giants for the first time, Painter did not get a decision in the win, pulled after four innings, having surrendered four runs on nine hits.
Sanchez 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 the left-hander to 2-1 with a 1.82 ERA in six lifetime games against the Giants.
Webb, a right-hander, has never beaten the Phillies in three lifetime starts, going 0-1 with a 6.19 ERA.
Giants slugger Rafael Devers homered as San Francisco closed a series win over the Phillies in the earlier head-to-head with a 5-0 win. But he hasn’t homered in 16 games since, hitting .203 with 22 strikeouts in 64 at-bats.
“I know the kind of player I am,” Devers assured reporters after going 0-for-3 with a strikeout in the series opener Tuesday. “I have said it before: I am going to get out of this. I know what I can bring to the table.”
–Field Level Media
