Phillies Power Past Giants

Philadelphia Phillies

Final

San Francisco Giants

The Phillies parlayed an outstanding all-around team effort, including a couple of key homeruns and performances off the bench and out of the bullpen, to beat the San Francisco Giants 6-4 on Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. The victory allowed the team to avoid a sweep in the weekend series, and concluded their 9-game homestand with a 3-6 record.

Sean O’Sullivan started for the Fightin’ Phils, and was able to go 6 innings for the 4th time in his 8 starts. He allowed 3 earned runs, scattering 7 hits and 2 walks. “O’Sullivan gave us a big lift with his 6 innings on a day where our bullpen needed 6 innings out of him,” said manager Ryne Sandberg.

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The Giants scored their three runs off O’Sullivan across the 2nd and 3rd innings. With one out in the 2nd, Brandon Belt singled, Brandon Crawford doubled, and Belt came home on a ground out to make it 1-0. In the top of the 3rd, back to back doubles by Joe Panik and Angel Pagan scored a 2nd, and a grounder later scored Pagan with the 3rd San Francisco run.

The Phillies stayed right with them, scoring twice in the 2nd and once in the 3rd. In the 2nd, the Phils started with 3 consecutive hits off Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong. Ryan Howard singled, Maikel Franco doubled, and Cody Asche singled to score both of them.

In the 3rd, Odubel Herrera led off by crushing his 2nd homerun of the season well into the home bullpen in center field to tie things up off Vogelsong. The Giants starter eventually lasted 6.2 innings, allowing 5 earned runs on 7 hits and 2 walks.

Phillies pitching then settled things down, shutting the Giants out from the 4th through the 8th. The first two came from O’Sullivan, who was followed by 1/3 of an inning from Elvis Araujo. When Araujo struggled, Ken Giles came on and pitched a key inning and a third, including striking out the side in the 8th.

In the bottom of the 7th, the Phillies broke the tie. Freddy Galvis and Cameron Rupp led off with back to back singles, and following a doubleplay grounder, Ben Revere walked. With two on and two out, Jeff Francoeur came on as a pinch-hitter for Herrera. Francoeur delivered, lining a 2-run double to left, scoring Galvis and Revere with the runs that put the Phils up 5-3.

“Frenchy came up big with the pinch-hit,” said Sandberg after the game. “He’s been a guy in that situation, seems a lot, in impact situations, helping us win games. Whether it’s the defense or swinging the bat, Francoeur’s been a guy that’s really been a veteran type of a presence in those situations, and has done a real good job.”

When further pressed on Francoeur, and his taking advantage of opportunities, the manager went on: “He’s hungry every day. He’s ready for the moment. He’s prepared. He’s a lot of energy with the guys. With that whole package, and makeup, he likes the opportunity when he’s asked to play in any role. With his energy and positive attitude, he does a lot of good things for us.“

In the bottom of the 8th, Franco absolutely crushed a full-count offering from Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt out to dead center for his 6th homerun in just a couple of weeks since his callup from the minors. The longball gave the Phillies a 6-3 lead into the 9th inning.

Sandberg turned to his closer, Jonathan Papelbon, for that 9th inning. Papelbon allowed a run thanks partly to his own error, and eventually had to face the go-ahead run at the plate with the tying run at 2nd base. But Paps struck out Crawford swinging to end it, registering his 12th Save in the process.

The Phillies now head out on the road for a 3-city, 8-game road trip to Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. Cole Hamels will get it started on Monday night, with righthander Mike Leake taking the mound for the Reds.

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Schedule