Giants at Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies have been taking advantage of their hitter-friendly home confines this season, highlighted by belting seven homers to win the first two contests of their four-game series versus the San Francisco Giants. The Phillies (20-15) look to tee off on right-hander Chris Stratton and the Giants (19-17) on Wednesday when the set continues at Citizens Bank Park.
Carlos Santana launched a three-run homer in an 11-0 romp in the series opener before adding a solo shot in Tuesday's 4-2 victory as Philadelphia improved to 13-5 at home. Odubel Herrera, who had two homers in the opener, recorded his third straight multi-hit performance to extend his on-base streak to 37 consecutive games, one shy of Jimmy Rollins' second-place total in franchise history set while overlapping the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Andrew McCutchen is 11-for-26 during his eight-game hitting streak for San Francisco, which has seen its offense sputter after erupting for 33 runs in the previous four contests heading into his series. The 2013 National League MVP is batting a robust .299 versus the Phillies in his career, although he'll be getting his first look at right-hander Nick Pivetta on Wednesday.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Bay Area (San Francisco), NBCS Philadelphia
PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants RH Chris Stratton (3-2, 3.99 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Nick Pivetta (1-2, 4.76)
Stratton answered a disastrous performance, which came just three days after the birth of his daughter, with a strong one on Friday. The 27-year-old looked less fatigued against Atlanta, as he overcame two homers to work six strong innings and improve to 3-1 in his last five outings. Stratton will be making his 28th career appearance and first start versus Philadelphia on Wednesday.
Pivetta's stellar start to 2018 has been slowed in each of his last two outings, with Bryce Harper homering twice on Friday as Washington erupted for six runs in one-plus innings to hand the 25-year-old British Columbia native his worst start of the season. "I just look at this as a bad day at work. That's what happened. ... I'm going to be fine, I've been through this before," said Pivetta, who will face the Giants for the first time. He hasn't done himself any favors with his control problems as well, as Pivetta answered a stretch of three games without surrendering a walk by issuing eight free passes over his last three.
WALK-OFFS
1. Philadelphia OF Aaron Altherr homered in the second inning on Tuesday, giving him 14 hits in his last 14 games.
2. San Francisco 1B Brandon Belt has seven hits and five runs scored in his last six contests.
3. Phillies 3B Maikel Franco is 9-for-24 with two homers and four RBIs during his six-game hitting streak.