SAN FRANCISCO — Jake Peavy had something to say after his start on Friday night. After reporters were done asking he questions, he spoke unprovoked about how impressed he was with this Phillies team. They nearly clawed back into Friday’s game, and almost did again on Sunday. The Giants (49-28) walked-off on the Phillies (32-45), 8-7, to win a game they blew three leads in. Johnny Cueto (11-1, 2.42 ERA) didn’t have his best stuff, but managed to throw six innings despite allowing six runs.
Here’s how Bruce Bochy’s 800th win as Giants manager unfolded at AT&T Park.
The big moment
Ramiro Peña soared a ninth-inning double down the right-field line that landed fair by a couple feet. Conor Gillaspie followed with the walk-off, slashing a double into the right-field corner to win the series.
MORE COVERAGE:
- Giants win Bochy’s 800th in familiar style
- ▶︎ Cueto: ‘After I hit Franco (the umpire’s) strike zone changed dramatically’
At the plate
While Denard Span’s been mired in a slump atop the Giants’ order, Angel Pagan hasn’t stopped hitting since coming off the disabled list. He’s help pick up the slack for Span, hitting .198 this month, and Bruce Bochy penciled Pagan into the No. 2 spot while Joe Panik got a day off. Span struck out three times, but Pagan ignited a pair of Giants rallies with his 4-for-5 game.
He singled in the first inning, eventually scoring on a Brandon Crawford chopper with the bases loaded. After Span laid down a bunt single in the third inning, Pagan followed with an RBI double to set off a wild sequence of events for Phillies starter Aaron Nola.
The young right-hander already hit Buster Posey in the first inning, and beaned Ramiro Peña and Conor Gillaspie consecutively to ignite both dugouts. Benches didn’t clear, but it looked like Jake Peavy almost vaulted himself over the dugout railing. Lost in the fray was five hits in the inning, including an RBI double from Posey.
Pagan emerged as the Giants’ catalyst again in the seventh inning, dumping a ball high off the right-field wall to push the Giants ahead momentarily.
On the mound
En route to a World Series title last year, the Royals never knew what they were going to get from Johnny Cueto. He became wildly inconsistent after being traded from the Reds, highlighted by a complete game in the World Series and a five-start stretch where his ERA approached 10. But since joining the Giants, Cueto’s rarely wavered outside of just two six-run outings. On Sunday, he added a third.
After three relatively easy innings, things went haywire when Cueto tried retaliating up for his team’s three hit batsmen. He plunked a disgruntled Maikel Franco with a 91 mph fastball, prompting home plate umpire Doug Eddings to issue warnings. Cueto then struggled to get the final out of the inning, allowing two hits and a walk to spot the Phillies two runs.
The same problems came up again in the fifth inning. Cueto retired the first two hitters before the next four reached base, eventually tying the game at five with an RBI single from Cody Asche. Odubel Herrera leadoff the seventh inning with a home run, planting Cueto’s 100th pitch into the center field seats to score the sixth and final run on Cueto’s record.
In the ‘pen
Derek Law stepped in for Cueto with a runner on in the seventh inning, and squirmed out of frame when Crawford and Peña teamed up for a nifty double play. Josh Osich started the eighth inning with a one-run lead, and took four pitches to give it up. Asche and Carlos Ruiz teamed up to tie the game at seven, before Osich escaped the inning with the go-ahead run at second base.
Cory Gearrin was off on Saturday after throwing three straight days, but Bochy called on him in the ninth inning of a tie game. He threw only 12 pitches, but worked around a pair of singles to keep the score in tact.
On deck
The Bay Bridge series kicks off Monday night with Jeff Samardzija (8-4, 3.59 ERA) facing his old team. The A’s counter with young right-hander Daniel Mengen (0-3, 3.00 ERA), who’s pitched much better than his record indicates. But the A’s, with the second-worst offense in the AL, have scored only four runs in his three starts. First pitch at 7:15 p.m. on KNBR 680.
