SAN FRANCISCO — Joe Panik made his triumphant return to AT&T Park Friday, stabilizing a second base position that has been ravaged by injuries and underproduction in recent weeks.
And with Panik back, the production returned, as did the Giants’ confidence, which powered a complete team effort that earned the team a 4-0 series-opening win over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies.
The Giants commenced the game’s scoring in the first when Evan Longoria singled home Panik, drawing raucous cheers from the AT&T Park crowd. Panik added a run himself in the second when he drove in Mac Williamson with a two-out single to right.
Welcome back @JoePanik 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/f2Ntnqe3lJ
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 2, 2018
In the fourth, Gorkys Hernandez singled home Brandon Crawford, who had blooped a double to left and advanced to third on Williamson’s groundout. The Giants later loaded the bases in the inning, but Andrew McCutchen cost the team a chance to break the game open, grounding out to Phillies’ starter Nick Pivetta to end the threat.
The Giants did add an insurance run in the seventh when McCutchen tripled off Hector Neris and later scored on a wild pitch.
Giants’ starter Chris Stratton was dominant in six shutout innings, utilizing excellent command of his curveball and changeup especially to make Phillies hitters look silly at times, including causing center fielder Odubel Herrera’s helmet to fall off on two consecutive swings. His relief pitching, consisting of one inning each of Tony Watson, Sam Dyson, and Hunter Strickland, was just as dominant, striking out six of nine hitters faced and preserving the shutout.
Panik reached base four times in five trips to the plate on the night, including two hits, two walks, an RBI, and a run scored.
Despite their success Friday, the Giants were unable to escape the game unscathed. Brandon Belt left the game with a stomach illness prior to the third inning, and was replaced by Pablo Sandoval. No timetable on Belt’s long-term prospects was given during the game.
