SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants opened a home series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night at Oracle Park trying to stop a slide that had already reached three straight losses. San Francisco entered the game 3-7, while Philadelphia came in at 5-4 after taking series from the Rockies and Nationals.
It was the fifth consecutive home game for the Giants, who had spent the start of the season going through the Yankees, Padres and Mets and still had little to show for it. Their offense had managed three or fewer runs in eight of 10 games, and the numbers against right-handed pitching were especially rough: a 45 wRC+ and a.229 wOBA. That made the timing of this giants game today especially important, because the Phillies were bringing a staff that had already shown the ability to keep games tight, even after a 4-1 loss in Colorado.
The matchup also carried the feel of a low-scoring night. Oracle Park is pitcher-friendly, the Phillies had cashed the Under in 44 of their last 79 away games, and both starting pitchers entered with a 117 Pitching+ in their debuts. The bullpens pointed the same way, too, with both relief groups carrying Top-12 SIERA marks but Bottom-10 ERAs, a combination that suggests the results have not quite matched the underlying quality.
For the Giants, that creates a simple pressure point: run support. Adrian Houser had a 117 Pitching+ in his Giants debut, which gave San Francisco at least one encouraging sign on a night when the offense again needed to do more than it had through the first two weeks. If the bats do not wake up soon, the home stretch of this early schedule will keep looking like a test the Giants are failing to clear.
The better question now is whether the Giants can use this homestand to reset before the season gets away from them. The pitching setup gives them a chance. The scoring profile so far does not.
