Win #10

SF 2  PHI 0

The Giants throw their second straight shutout, this time against a tenacious Phillies linuep, and win their tenth game of the season. Last year they didn’t get their tenth win until their 26th game. The three seasons before that? I’m glad you asked. The 2019 Giants needed 24 games, the 2018 Giants needed 22 games, and the 2017 Giants needed 27 games to get to ten wins. This team notched its tenth win in its 16th game! They have now thrown four shutouts in those 16 games. If you like low-scoring baseball and nail-biting games then the Giants are your team.

Kevin Gausman had some command issues and the Phillies put pressure on him every inning but he still kept them off the board. He allowed six hits and four walks but got the big outs in the crucial spots. After 108 pitches to 28 batters he was done after six frames. Kapler was in a bit of a bind, being without Jake McGee and Tyler Rogers, so he called on struggling Matt Wisler for the 7th and the righty managed an effective 1-2-3. The Giants need Wisler and I’m happy to see him get good outcomes, especially against the meat of the lineup: Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper, and J.T. Realmuto. Rookie Camilo Doval got the call in the 8th and he also put up a zero despite yielding his first hit. Ballsy move from Kap to dip into the well two days in a row but the kid pulled it off. In the 9th Wandy Peralta took the hill and got the final three batters on 12 pitches. Peralta has had his ups and downs but he has some serious weapons and I think the Giants are going to keep asking him to get big outs late in games. That’s his second save.

Giants hitters struck out 12 times, continuing their misery, and were 1-for-8 with RISP. Fortunately the one hit was a Brandon Belt two-run homer in the 3rd. It would be nice to see the Giants win some games by comfortable margins. But I’ll take any kind of wins, really!

Logan Webb tomorrow at 4:05 PDT.

Go Giants!

–M.C.

p.s. Gabe Kapler, who managed for two seasons (’18-’19) in Philly before coming to SF, managed his 400th game tonight. His teams have a combined record of 200 wins and 200 losses. Phillies beat writer Matt Gelb tweeted that’s the first time that’s happened in ML history, that a manager has gone 200-200 in his first 400 games. Don’t you just love weird baseball stats?