PHILADELPHIA — The Giants have talked a lot over the past two weeks about how they’re winning all different types of ball games. You can add this one to the list: “Win what’s probably going to be the ugliest game of the year.”
On a night when both starting pitchers nearly got knocked out in the first inning and the teams combined for four walks with the bases loaded, the Giants pulled away from the Philadelphia Phillies for an 11-4 win. What ultimately was the winning run scored on an airmailed throw from center field that got past the catcher and a pitcher who wasn’t backing up the plate and bounced into the dugout.
But a win is a win, and they’re piling up right now.
The Giants poured it on after reliever Lou Trivino settled everything down and they retook the lead. They put up a second four-spot of the night in the seventh inning to get to 13-5 on the year.
Splitting a series at Citizens Bank Park is tough enough, but the Giants will try and get greedy on Thursday behind right-hander Jordan Hicks.
Here are three things to know from a long Wednesday night in Philadelphia …
Fitzmagic
On the bus ride over from New York on Sunday night, Tyler Fitzgerald had a .237 average and .582 OPS. By the end of Wednesday’s game, he was sitting at .314 and .842, numbers that are better than last year’s breakout.
Fitzgerald was a single shy for the cycle on Monday and two days later, he had two singles and a double, with two runs scored and an RBI. His slugging percentage is up to .490, which is good anywhere, but downright elite from a second baseman. You know you have a deep lineup when that’s your No. 9 hitter.
Oh, and he also did this:
The patience the Giants displayed this spring and over the first couple of weeks of the season is paying off big time.
Marathon Men
Aaron Nola faced nine batters in the top of the first and gave up four runs on four hits and two walks while throwing 35 pitches. Robbie Ray somehow threw even more pitches in his half of an inning that took 37 minutes and saw both managers get their bullpens up.
Ray needed 39 pitches to get through the bottom of the first, giving back two of the four runs on walks with the bases loaded. He issued four free passes in the lengthy half-inning and threw just 16 strikes. According to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, this was the first game since 2001 in which both starting pitchers walked home a run in the first inning, and just the fourth time it has happened since 1974.
Because baseball is forever unpredictable, the two faced just seven combined batters in a quick second inning.
Rough Trip
Ray got a strange win on Friday night when the rain led to the official scorer crediting him despite throwing just four innings. He lasted four innings Wednesday, too, and it was a battle to even get that far.
Ray walked five and struck out five in the first two innings alone and ended up with those five walks and eight strikeouts. He also gave up six hits, including a two-run blast to Bryce Harper that briefly tied the game in the bottom of the fourth. Harper walked on four pitches in each of his first two plate appearances and he wasn’t going to wait around; the slider wasn’t even a strike, but he yanked it into the seats in right.
Ray became the first MLB pitcher to walk five and strike out eight in four innings since … Robbie Ray in 2020. He took his first no-decision of the year and his ERA jumped to 4.19.
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