Gabe Kapler’s Giants throttle the Phillies in ominous start to September

Final: Giants 13, Phillies 1

When you haven’t posted a winning record in September since 2017, it’s especially suboptimal to get crushed in your first game of the final month of the season.

But that’s exactly what happened to the Phillies Friday evening, as Gabe Kapler’s San Francisco Giants snapped a seven-game losing streak by throttling Philadelphia in the series opener.

Coming off of a strong month of August, Kyle Gibson turned in his worst start of the season, allowing five hits and walking four over just 1 2/3 innings. The 34-year-old gave up seven runs, with extension candidate Joc Pederson accounting for four of those, including on a three-run home run that landed in McCovey Cove:

A Barry Bonds-esque blast from Joc Pederson into McCovey Cove pic.twitter.com/2voeP1cHhX

— Phillies Nation (@PhilliesNation) September 3, 2022

Former Giant Sam Coonrod came on in relief of Gibson, and while he got out of the second inning, he only recorded one out in the third inning. Coonrod allowed two hits and walked two, ultimately giving up four runs.

Cristopher Sánchez gave the Phillies bulk, but only after walking in two of the runners he inherited from Coonrod in the bottom of the third inning. Sánchez walked four, struck out six and surrendered one earned run in 3 2/3 innings.

Alex Cobb had a tremendous outing for the Giants, with San Francisco keeping the Phillies off the board until Alec Bohm drove in Nick Maton in the ninth inning off of outfielder-turned-pitcher Luis González.

With the loss, the Phillies drop to 73-59. With the San Diego Padres defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday night, the Phillies have fallen to the third and final Wild Card spot in the National League. Fortunately for them, the Milwaukee Brewers — the first team on the outside looking in — lost 2-1 to the Arizona Diamondbacks Friday.

Meanwhile, the Giants improve to 62-68. It’s unquestionably been a disappointing season for Kapler and company, who haven’t been able to recreate the magic that led to a franchise-record 107 wins a season ago.

Noah Syndergaard will get the ball for the Phillies Saturday afternoon, with the Giants slated to counter with Jakob Junis.

Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance

• Kyle Gibson‘s ERA on the season is now 4.48. Gibson has had some stretches this season where he’s looked like a legitimate middle-of-the-rotation arm, but he’s delivered too many clunkers to consistently be relied upon as more than a back-end starter.
• Alex Cobb was dominant Friday, limiting the Phillies to just three hits over seven shutout innings. The 34-year-old has a 3.58 ERA in 22 starts this season.

Ticket IQ Next Game

• Saturday, Sept. 3 vs. Giants at Oracle Park
• 4:05 p.m. ET
• TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia, MLB Network (available out of market only)
• Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
• Spanish Radio: WTTM 1680

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