After losing three consecutive games to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the San Francisco Giants are now on the verge of a three-game series sweep against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The teams will play the series finale on Wednesday afternoon in San Francisco.
After taking the series opener 6-3 on Monday, the Giants received three hits and an RBI from Michael Conforto in a 4-3 win on Tuesday. Conforto is 5-for-7 in the two wins over the Phillies, and he is 11-for-25 (.440) with four homers and eight RBIs in his past seven games.
LaMonte Wade Jr. also had two hits and an RBI for San Francisco on Tuesday, and Blake Sabol contributed two hits.
“Resilient. We always bounce back strong,” Wade said in a postgame interview on NBC Sports Bay Area. “Positive vibes. Don’t get too high. Don’t get too low. We just come out here trying to play a clean game and play clean baseball and take it one day at a time.”
Four Giants relievers — Taylor Rogers, John Brebbia, Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval — combined to allow just one run in 5 2/3 effective innings.
Doval has earned saves in back-to-back games against the Phillies.
The Giants will hand the ball to Ross Stripling (0-2, 7.14 ERA) on Wednesday.
In Stripling’s latest start, on Friday against the Diamondbacks, he lasted only 3 1/3 innings and gave up five hits and four runs.
“Biggest challenge for Strip now is command,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “Balls are in the middle of the plate. … Strip’s as tough as they come. He’s a really, really tenacious guy and he’s going to get through this.”
Stripling is 2-0 with a 4.81 ERA in 10 career games (seven starts) against the Phillies.
The Phillies will look to avoid a fourth consecutive loss immediately following a five-game winning streak.
Kyle Schwarber hit a solo home run in the ninth inning on Tuesday, and J.T. Realmuto added two hits and two stolen bases. Kody Clemens also had two hits. Realmuto is 11-for-27 (.407) over the past eight games to raise his average to .299.
However, the Phillies went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position, leaving them 1-for-33 in those situations over the past three games, all losses.
The Phillies left 12 runners on base on Tuesday.
“We talk about it. We don’t harp on it,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “It can make it worse. The tide will turn. It always does.”
The Phillies accumulated 10 hits and six walks but struggled through another frustrating defeat.
“We talked to the guys about it,” Thomson said of scuffling with runners in scoring position. “Don’t try to do too much. Move the line. We’re just going through one of those times right now.”
Philadelphia slugger Bryce Harper finished 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts. He called his strikeout leading off the ninth inning “embarrassing.”
“You’ve got to stay within yourselves and do your job,” Harper said of himself and his teammates.
Taijuan Walker (3-2, 5.75 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Phillies.
Walker, who signed a four-year, $72 million deal in the offseason, allowed seven hits and three runs in six-plus innings during his most recent start, on Friday against the Colorado Rockies.
In seven career starts against the Giants, Walker is 3-3 with a 3.70 ERA.
–Field Level Media
