The Sports Xchange
Giants 4, Phillies 2
SAN FRANCISCO — Buster Posey had his second consecutive three-hit game, and Madison Bumgarner weaved his way through six-plus innings to lead the San Francisco Giants to a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.
Posey, who missed most of last season with a severe ankle injury, has raised his average from .250 to .375 with back-to-back big games. All six hits were singles, including several bloopers.
Bumgarner gave up seven hits and a walk. He also hit a batter and had two men reached on errors. The Phillies’ leadoff man reached base against him in every inning.
However, Philadelphia scored just two runs against him.
Because Bumgarner had been in trouble all night, manager Bruce Bochy pulled him after just 96 pitches following a leadoff single in the seventh, leaving the bullpen to get nine outs.
Clay Hensley retired all three batters he faced in the seventh. Sergio Romo then pitched a perfect eight, through the heart of the Phillies lineup.
Santiago Casilla pitched a scoreless ninth, recording the Giants’ first save since they learned that closer Brian Wilson is likely to miss the rest of the season because of an elbow injury.
Phillies starter Joe Blanton gave up four runs on 11 hits in five innings.
Philadelphia’s only runs came on Hunter Pence’s homer in the fourth inning and Carlos Ruiz’s sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Giants center fielder Angel Pagan, who began the night with six hits in his 12 career at-bats against Blanton, continued the trend by having a good start against the right-hander. Pagan led off the game with a single up the middle and he tripled in the second.
Melky Cabrera, who had been hitless in his previous 12 at-bats, snapped out of his brief funk with a triple in the first inning, driving in Pagan. Cabrera then scored on Pablo Sandoval’s groundout to give the Giants a 2-0 lead.
Bumgarner was in trouble early, but not because he was pitching poorly. Shortstop Brandon Crawford booted the first ball of the game and then Bumgarner made a bad throw to second on a would-be double play. Bumgarner got out of the inning with a double play and a popup. In the second, the Phillies had two on and one out after a walk and an infield hit, but this time the Giants converted a double play on a line drive.
The Giants pushed the lead to 4-1 with a pair of runs in the fifth, sparked by Sandoval’s leadoff double, which extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Buster Posey also singled, his fifth hit in two games, and Nate Schierholtz had his third single of the night.
NOTES: An official scoring ruling from Monday’s game was overturned by the Major League Baseball office, taking away an error from Crawford and giving a hit to the Phillies’ Laynce Nix. Nix hit a blooper that dropped into left field behind Crawford. … The Phillies starting lineup included players who had hit a total of four homers this season. … Pat Burrell, who is a scout for the Giants but will sign a one-day minor league contract to retire with the Phillies next month, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
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