Franco lifts Phillies over Giants 5-4 in 12 innings

Maikel Franco, who tied the score with a two-run single in the eighth, added a game-winning single in the 12th as the Philadelphia Phillies rallied for a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night. This was the second time he jogged from the bullpen, and the first since 2011 with the Chicago White Sox. “But.it’s good to see guys doing what he’s doing, and that’s, ‘I’ll show you'”.

The Phillies bullpen – one of the least dependable units in all of baseball – had logged 14 straight scoreless innings. “Hopefully I can get in there tomorrow and do my job”. I just tried to be ready and be in the moment. These guys have been hard on us.

San Francisco (62-46) gave Moore a lead in the first inning off Phillies starter Vince Velasquez. They amassed a 29-8 record behind that duo in the first half. Pence returned from the DL last week after two months on the sideline with a torn hamstring, and the Giants hope he can be a crucial part of their second half playoff push.

The Giants blew a 4-0 lead and managed just two hits against six Philadelphia relievers, who combined for seven shutout innings. “The only thing we can do is keep grinding and keep putting our best effort out there, every time we go out”.

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. Left hander Matt Moore makes his first start in a San Francisco uniform Thursday.

Home-plate umpire Bob Davidson points toward an unruly fan, who was ejected from Citizens Bank Park. It happens sometimes. Long way to go.

The Giants faced the Phillies’ Plan B pitcher because the scheduled starter, right-hander Aaron Nola, landed on the disabled list with an elbow issue.

San Francisco’s Denard Span opened the game with a bloop double to center, and advanced to third on Angel Pagan’s single. The game-tying single came on Cueto’s 111th pitch.

Both pitchers settled in during the middle innings.

Starting pitching report: Cueto has 12 career double-digit strikeout games, including two this season.

Bochy stayed with Cueto after the Phillies halved the lead with two homers in the seventh.

The Giants made it 4-0 in the third.

“The first three at-bats (Cueto) threw me balls right down the middle and I just took it”, he explained. “He made a lot more mistakes than we’re accustomed to”. The Giants weren’t going to find another left-handed complement of Moore’s caliber to complement Bumgarner on the free-agent market this winter. Moore has been throwing well with back to back wins with three earned runs allowed over 13.2 innings.

A leadoff single in the second didn’t harm Klein but Hunter Pence’s in the third did. Joe Panik lined out to strand two runners.

“Win the game, that’s the more important (thing)”, Franco said, before it was determined he would be credited with a hit. “Their ‘pen shut us down completely”.

The Giants bullpen teetered but kept the game on life support, and Santiago Casilla was the most impressive of the bunch. He induced a shallow flyout from Tommy Joseph, and snapped a two-strike curveball on Jimmy Paredes to end the inning with a strikeout. Then he retired the side in the 10. Freddy Galvis tied the game at 2 in the sixth when he beat out a potential inning-ending double-play ball. Iassogna’s safe call at first base was overturned. He did not pitch more than six innings in 11 of his last 12 starts.

And the Giants committed their 16 error since the break. 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.

It appears the Giants are in no hurry to activate right-hander Cory Gearrin, who has made two rehab appearances thus far and appears to be healthy following a bout of shoulder soreness.