Giants at Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies snapped a five-game slide with a late rally on Saturday and will try to earn back-to-back wins for the first time since April when they host the San Francisco Giants in the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday. The Phillies last won consecutive games during a six-game winning streak from April 20-27 but have since gone 7-26.
Philadelphia was thrashed 10-0 in the series opener on Friday and scored two or fewer runs in four straight before breaking out with four runs in the seventh inning against Johnny Cueto and the San Francisco bullpen on Saturday before hanging on for a 5-3 win. "The thing that makes this game kind of special is Cueto's a good pitcher," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin told reporters. "He's really tough. We got a lot of hits off him and swung the bats well. Maybe this is the kind of game that will kick-start us. All the guys swung the bat very well and we got to carry that over through tomorrow." The Giants fell to 10-20 on the road with the setback and are losers of four of their last five. San Francisco will try to bounce back on Sunday behind lefty Matt Moore while the Phillies counter with veteran Jeremy Hellickson.
TV: 1:35 p.m. ET, NBCSN Bay Area (San Francisco), CSN Philadelphia
PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants LH Matt Moore (2-6, 4.98 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Jeremy Hellickson (5-3, 4.45)
Moore is pitching well of late with four straight quality starts but is just 1-2 in that span. The Florida native struck out five and did not walk a batter while yielding two runs on six hits over seven innings against Washington on Monday but came out on the wrong end of a 3-0 final score. Moore spent the first 5 1/2 seasons of his career in the American League with the Tampa Bay Rays and is making just his third career start against the Phillies while looking for his first win after going 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA in the first two chances.
Hellickson was a teammate of Moore's on the Rays before coming over to the National League in 2015 and got off to a strong start in his second season with Philadelphia before running into trouble in the last two turns. The 30-year-old was ripped for a total of 11 runs and 14 hits in 11 innings over his last two starts - both losses. Hellickson is 2-2 with a 2.86 ERA in four career starts against San Francisco.
WALK-OFFS
1. Phillies RHP Pat Neshek struck out the side in a perfect inning on Saturday and did not allow a run in any of his last seven appearances.
2. Giants CF Denard Span is 6-for-9 in the series, raising his batting average to .262.
3. Philadelphia RHP Ben Lively made his major-league debut on Saturday and became the team's first starter to earn a win at home since Hellickson on April 27.