The Philadelphia Phillies dropped a forgettable series opener, 3-1, to the San Francisco Giants on Monday night. Starting pitcher Christopher Sanchez was excellent in keeping the Giants’ lineup to one run over seven innings. Still, the Phillies’ offense went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position (RISP) in the loss, and Bryce Harper was respectfully critical of the home plate umpire after the game.
Cristopher Sanchez Deals Again
Sanchez finished with a stat line of seven innings, allowing one run on seven hits. He walked one batter and struck out eight Giants. Sanchez loaded the bases full of Giants in the second inning, but wiggled out of trouble with just one run against.
Sanchez picked up his 12th quality start (QS) of the season in 18 starts this season, or two-thirds (66%) of his season to date. A QS is a statistic for a starting pitcher where they pitch at least six innings and allow three earned runs or fewer. It is used as a one-way to track the performance of starting pitchers in baseball.
Sanchez’s 12 QS is tied for 8th 8th-best in Major League Baseball. The top two in the category, the Giants’ Logan Webb (15 QS) and Phillies teammate Zack Wheeler (14), are not scheduled to pitch in this series. Wheeler and Ranger Suarez (10 QS, tied 21st in MLB) are expected to start the first two games in the upcoming series against the San Diego Padres.
The 28-year-old lefty was one of the team-record eight Phillies to make the 2024 All-Star Game last season. His performance in the 2025 season could potentially put him in Atlanta for the 2025 All-Star Game as a reserve selection.
Bryce Harper Critical of Ball & Strike Calls
The Phillies’ 0-for-6 with RISP is glaring in the box score. In reality, the Phillies were subject to some unlucky ball/strike calls from home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi throughout the contest.
Philadelphia tied the score at one in the fifth after Bryson Stott scored on a wild pitch. Trea Turner singled before Kyle Schwarber hit a hard line drive at Giants right fielder Luis Matos for the second out of the inning. On a 2-2 count, Harper was called out on strikes on a ball that was clearly outside of the strike zone. He didn’t say anything to the umpire as the inning slammed closed.
During his next at-bat in the seventh, the first two pitches thrown to Harper were questionable pitches called for strikes. “He said the second one, he had at my belt line,” the Phillies slugger told NBC Sports Philadelphia. “Which, I knew it wasn’t. I couldn’t say much more. I didn’t want to. I didn’t say anything to him when I walked off the first time on strike three – that was up. I respect Phil. I like Phil a lot. Obviously, it doesn’t help us in those situations. He’s gotta be better.”
Harper said he feels “really good” since returning to the Phillies lineup on June 30. The 32-year-old star is 4-for-20 over those seven games with four walks and 10 strikeouts. Harper was 1-for-3 on Monday night against the Giants, with both a walk and a strikeout.
Kerkering Forced to Record for Four Outs in the Eighth Inning
One of the top Phillies relievers, Orion Kerkering, entered the game to pitch the eighth inning with a tied 1-1 game. Kerkering hit his first batter, Willy Adames, before allowing a single to Matt Chapman … in the box score. In reality, Kerkering struck out Chapman twice with pitches in the lower corner of the strike zone that Cuzzi missed. Finally, the Giants infielder smacked a fastball to left field to create a scoring situation, which San Francisco capitalized on to score the game-winning run(s). The at-bat can be viewed here: https://www.mlb.com/gameday/777199/play/62
There is no way to know how differently things would have turned out had the correct call been made on either call. Kerkering allowed two runs to score on fielder’s choice ground balls on the infield that flipped the scoreboard in favor of San Francisco, 3-1.
The middle game of the three-game series at Oracle Park in California is scheduled for the same time this evening, 9:45 PM EST. Taijuan Walker (3-5, 3.64 ERA) gets the spot start for the Phillies against one of the National League’s best starters, Robbie Ray (9-3, 2.68 ERA).
Other Quotes & Notes
“We’ve got a lot of guys that should come through in that situation, and we haven’t,” Harper told NBC Sports Philadelphia last night. “We’ve just got to do a better job.”
“Well, I heard that, but I haven’t seen the pitches yet,” Rob Thomson said postgame about the ball/strike calls for Kerkering. “He was having trouble gripping the ball. For whatever reason, the ball was a little bit slick and he couldn’t grip it… more on his slider than his fastball.”
“There was something going on,” Thomson replied to a question about Kerkering’s grip. “Once they take the lead, I still want him to throw more… I don’t want to put 30-35 pitches on him, so that’s why Lazar came in.”
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
