The struggling Giants couldn’t add to their lead and it cost them. After Altherr’s two-run homer in the first, Philadelphia tallied four two-out runs in the second after third baseman Eduardo Nunez made an error.
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Velasquez allowed just two earned on three hits over five innings, with six strikeouts and three walks.
But just like a night earlier, when scoring eight runs of Madison Bumgarner was foiled by Zach Eflin’s ability to hold a six-run lead, the Phillies plucky offense was undeterred.
“We play as a team, we don’t give up”, said Franco, whose team endured a gut-punch of a Giants comeback a night earlier but were resilient enough to bounce back, just as they didn’t let facing nine outs from being shut out shake them Wednesday.
“That’s the difference in the game”, Bochy said.
Left-hander Matt Moore made a good impression in his first start since the Giants obtained him frm the Rays and Denard Span hit the go-ahead home run in the 10th inning as the Giants beat the Phillies 3-2 Thursday. Four of the seven hits Cueto allowed came in the seventh and eighth innings.
After Altherr’s double in the first, Moore didn’t allow another hit until Jimmy Paredes reached on a one-out single in the sixth.
The Giants (61-45) were thrilled to bolster their rotation with Moore, another affordable, left-handed pitcher who will make his debut Thursday and slot in between right-handers Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija. They will boo, throw things and curse out pretty much anyone or anything that isn’t their own team.though they’ve been known to do that too.
The play was reminiscent of one of the more forgettable (most forgettable?) plays in Giants history: “Merkle’s boner”. “It’s hard to believe”. “It couldn’t have come at a better time”.
Cueto’s night was long over when the game ended in odd fashion.
With the bases loaded and one out in the 12th, Franco lined what appeared to be a clean single into right-center field. But young teammate Aaron Altherr, who was on first base, got so excited about the Phillies winning that he rushed out to right field to congratulate Franco without ever touching second base.
Giants catcher Buster Posey noticed the blunder and took a throw at second from right fielder Hunter Pence – and second base umpire Dale Scott signaled that Altherr was out.
But when you are a leadoff hitter in a major league lineup, every day provides a fresh opportunity to get off to a good start. “I definitely feel awful about it, but I learned from it”. Belt followed with a towering shot that wrapped around the right field pole for a tying, three-run home run.
“It’s more important that we won the ballgame”, Franco said before the ruling. “I got my RBI, we win the ballgame, that’s what this game is all about”.
Ryan Howard and Cameron Rupp hit back-to-back homers in the seventh inning for the Phillies, who erased a 4-0 deficit. Franco finished with three RBIs, including one on the unusual sequence that ended the game. “I guess it just kind of flared up in that one game”.
Franco then drove the next pitch from Peavy into right-center.
“He did OK”, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. “When you lose, it’s bad”.
Garcia (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning, capping an impressive performance by Philadelphia’s bullpen.
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San Francisco (62-46) gave Moore a lead in the first inning off Phillies starter Vince Velasquez. “We used a lot of pitchers last night and starting out with 26 pitches in the first inning doesn’t help”.
