Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Gabe Kapler was booed, and Sam Coonrod showed his old team what he still has. Both looked better off in their new environments.
But in terms of breaking free for greener pastures, there wasn’t a better escape artist on display than Kevin Gausman.
The Giants’ ace danced his way out of several jams and left the Phillies frustrated and scoreless in the Giants’ 2-0, series-opening victory at Citizens Bank Park, San Francisco grabbing its eighth win in 11 games in the place Kapler used to call home.
The Giants (10-6) got all the offense they needed from Brandon Belt, who has begun to awaken, and are seeing their bullpen round into shape. The offense is still lacking, but the biggest surprise of the short season is the pitching has compensated.
Their starting pitching ERA is now a stunning 2.23, and Curt Casali, filling in for the banged-up Buster Posey, has caught four straight shutouts. It is hard to steal the focus from Kapler, but the Giants’ arms did their best with their second shutout straight and third in five games.
Kapler, now the Giants manager, led Philly for two playoff-less seasons that ended with his ouster and his quickly latching on with Farhan Zaidi’s crew.
#Phillies fans welcome Gabe Kapler back to town: pic.twitter.com/2XDhvs8GKI
— Tom Moore (@TomMoorePhilly) April 19, 2021
Coonrod’s goodbye to the Giants was less dramatic, getting dealt this offseason when the club sought other righties and did not want to lose him to waivers. He looked strong in a scoreless seventh, but Gausman was the star on a night of returns.
He returned, once again, to the talented form that made him the No. 4 overall pick by Baltimore so many years ago. He went six strong innings without his best command, walking four while allowing six hits. Yet the Phillies left 10 on base and went 0-for-8 against the righty with runners in scoring position.
Whenever things got dicey, Gausman went to his splitter, which induced nine swings and misses.
The Phillies put two on base in the third, but Gausman escaped a nine-pitch battle with J.T. Realmuto, a gorgeous splitter that stayed in the zone freezing the All-Star catcher for strike three.
Philadelphia had second and third without an out in the fourth, but Gausman feasted on the Phillies’ kids. Mickey Moniak (22 years old) saw three pitches, the last a nasty splitter he swung through, before Nick Maton (24) saw four before a splitter put him away. Gausman got pinch-hitter Brad Miller to ground out to end the threat.
Kevin Gausman's Disgusting Splitters (all from the 4th inning). ? pic.twitter.com/tShT3mxVyR
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 20, 2021
More trouble arose in the fifth, which Gausman averted by silencing Realmuto and Alec Bohm, before his 108th and last pitch of the day, a 95-mph four-seamer to Andrew McCutchen, got him out of another two-on jam in the sixth.
After he left, the Giants showed why Coonrod was pushed out. Matt Wisler, who dominated last year with Minnesota but has pitched poorly this year, had little trouble getting through Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper and Realmuto without issue. Camilo Doval, the setup man in his second ever appearance (and on a back-to-back!), pitched a one-hit, scoreless eighth, and Wandy Peralta picked up his second save of the year and his career with Jake McGee down.
The Giants’ offense had similar frustrations to the Phillies, going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and leaving seven on base, but the pitching excellence and one Belt blast made that a footnote.
In the first baseman’s second at-bat of the game, he looked at a hanging curve from Chase Anderson and watched it clear the fence in right-center. Belt’s two-run shot in the third was his third of the season.
After a slow start — and who hasn’t had one on this offense — Belt has gone 4-for-12 with a homer and two doubles in three games, giving a peek at life that the flatlining offense otherwise had lacked.
It will be a problem if the struggles continue, but the Giants’ pitching staff has masked a lot of blemishes.