Giants at Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies have been patient with Carlos Santana to begin paying dividends after signing the power-hitting switch hitter to a three-year, $60 million contract in the offseason. Santana has responded to a sluggish start by carrying a six-game hitting streak into Thursday afternoon as the Phillies (21-15) vie for a four-game sweep of the visiting San Francisco Giants (19-18).
Santana has gone deep in each of the first two contests of the series before driving in a career high-tying five runs in Wednesday's 11-3 romp, improving to 9-for-26 with three homers, 12 RBIs and five runs scored during his hitting streak. Maikel Franco had an RBI single in the first inning to push his hitting streak to seven games (12-for-29) before belting the eighth homer of the series for Philadelphia, which improved to 14-5 at Citizens Bank Park. San Francisco's Brandon Belt scored on Evan Longoria's double on Wednesday, marking the sixth time that he has crossed the plate during his last seven games. The Giants' offense has taken a snooze as the club has answered its 33 runs in its previous four games by getting outscored 26-5 in this series.
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PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants LH Ty Blach (3-3, 3.60 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Vince Velasquez (2-4, 5.14)
Blach collected his second straight win after allowing two runs (one earned) over a season-high 7 2/3 innings in an 11-2 romp over Atlanta. "It felt good to get out there and feel like I could get deep into the game," the 27-year-old told the San Jose Mercury News. "It's something I take pride in so definitely a big momentum booster there." Blach turned in decidedly differing performances against Philadelphia last season, as he scattered seven hits in a 10-0 shutout on June 2 before getting shredded for six runs on eight hits in a 12-9 setback on Aug. 19.
Velasquez snapped a three-start losing streak and posted his first win since April 7 after giving up only a solo homer over five innings in Saturday's 3-1 triumph at Washington. The homer was the sixth allowed in four outings for the 25-year-old, who also struggled with his control by issuing a season-high four walks. Velasquez pitched well in his lone encounter versus San Francisco, yielding two runs on three hits over five innings in a no-decision on Aug. 4, 2016.
WALK-OFFS
1. Philadelphia CF Odubel Herrera has reached base in 38 consecutive games, tied with Jimmy Rollins for second place in franchise history.
2. San Francisco RF Andrew McCutchen is 12-for-29 during his nine-game hitting streak.
3. Longoria has recorded five multi-hit performances since April 27.