I Will Get By, I Will Survive: Giants 8, Phillies 4

After dropping two of three in Denver to lose their first series since early April, the Phillies are on the ropes after losing to the Giants on Monday evening. Yes, friends, the sky is falling. We, as fans of the team with baseball’s best record, must be punished for our hubris and the Vibes Meter must be thrown straight from “cocky” to “distraught”. It is, in fact, so over.

LOL.

The Phillies did lose a weird one by the Bay on Monday, starting their first losing streak of multiple games since they lost two in a row to the Reds back on April 23-24. It is true that some poor defense bit them in the pants, just as it has done for much of the last four seasons. Yes, this is their eighth loss in a row at Oracle Park, a venue where they are now 5-22 since 2015. These are all facts.

But, fear not, those of you who have a tiny WIP caller living in your heart begging your brain to declare the season dead on Memorial Day. Everything will be just fine.

One streak continues…

Some good news to start the game as JT Realmuto extended his hit streak to 16 games with a double in the first inning. According to the broadcast, this ties JTR with Jimmie Wilson and Stan Lopata for the longest streak by a catcher in Phillies history. However, if you dig a little deeper, it is actually the longest for a player who has caught in each of his appearances during the streak. Lopata played first base three times during his 16-game run in July/August 1956 while Wilson pinch-hit once during his streak in April/May 1934.

Tangent time - if you only go by consecutive appearances as a catcher in Phillies history (as opposed to consecutive appearances, period), Realmuto’s streak is only bested by Virgil “Spud” Davis, who hit safely in 18 straight catching appearances in May/June 1933 (he went 1-for-4 in pinch-hitting appearances during the span in question, hence why it doesn’t count as a true streak). Davis, who had a career year in ‘33, was traded the following offseason to the Cardinals for Wilson, who had started his career with the Phillies years earlier before a 1928 trade sent him to St. Louis. That trade had been a package deal which, in return for Wilson and two others, sent three players back to Philadelphia including a young catcher with two major-league games under his belt by the name of…Virgil Davis. Yes, these two men were traded for each other by the same teams twice. For what it’s worth, Davis got the best of the deal as he would proceed to help the Cardinals win the 1934 World Series.

Back here in the present, Mike Yastrzemski hit a two-run double in the bottom of the second followed by a Brett Wisely single which gave the Giants a 3-0 lead after two.

…Another streak ends

In the third, Kyle Schwarber hit his first home run since May 6th, a two-run shot that almost ended up in McCovey Cove.

Thus ends Schwarber’s longest homer drought as a Phillie at 16 games (if you’re wondering, his career-record drought is 21). Maybe June is starting early for Kyle?

Edmundo Sosa smoked a triple off the wall in center in the fourth, which led to him tying the game on a wild pitch from Blake Snell one batter later. Snell, in his fifth start of the year, looked about as mediocre as he has in each of his previous four - 4 IP (90 pitches), 5 H, 3 ER, 7 K, 2 BB.

Unfortunately, Taijuan Walker was ready to match his mid.

After a Luis Matos single and a Lamonte Wade double put runners on second and third (and, unfortunately, led Wade to exit the game after injuring his leg on the slide), Thairos Estrada pushed Matos across with a grounder to third that was misplayed by Alec Bohm. It was a rough day in the field for Bohm as he would commit another error in the seventh and let a ball go off his glove for a double in the eighth. After pinch runner Wilmer Flores scored on a sacrifice fly, the Giants led 5-4.

In the sixth, Wisely drove Yastrzemski in again with a double to extend the San Francisco lead. Wisely, who was called up earlier this month to replace the injured Nick Ahmed, has made the most of his time on the big-league roster, slashing .450/.429/.650 over nine games. He might as well go get “Phillie Killer” tattooed across his forehead now and call his shot for the rest of the series.

The goofiest play of the day came in the seventh when Schwarber hit a high pop-up that dropped between three Giants fielders about ten feet in front of home plate. The ball spun back between catcher Patrick Bailey’s legs and bounced into foul territory, presumably touching Bailey on its way between his wickets and giving Schwarber perhaps the shortest single of his career.

The Giants added two more in the seventh after two errors (the aforementioned one from Bohm and a dropped popup by Whit Merrifield) set up Heliot Ramos for a two-run single.

Next up

The Phils will look to get right tomorrow night at 9:45 ET, when Zack Wheeler will take the mound against…someone, presumably? The Giants’ plans are up in the air but conjecture from Brady Klopfer at McCovey Chronicles suggests that the most likely option is long man Sean Hjelle, either as a spot starter or the opener of a bullpen game.