On a night when the Giants celebrated their best starting pitching prospect in a decade, the bullpen nearly led them to a win. It all fell apart in the ninth, though.
Trea Turner hit a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth, stunning Camilo Doval and leading the Phillies to a 4-3 win on a night when the Giants hoped to put Kyle Harrison through a handshake line. The Giants took the lead in the fifth and held it until the ninth, but Doval immediately ran into trouble.
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The closer drilled the first batter of the ninth and then gave up a single on an 0-2 pitch. With two runners in scoring position and one out, the Giants intentionally walked Kyle Schwarber to face Turner. He lined a single off Doval's glove and up the middle, winning the game.
The Giants fell to 1-4 on this tough road trip. They also failed to clinch the season series against the Phillies, which could be a crucial tiebreaker at the end of the season.
A couple of defensive misplays helped the Giants get an early lead to Harrison, but it didn't last long. Bryce Harper hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the first, but Harrison buckled down. He left with the Giants still trailing by a run, but Joc Pederson soon changed that.
With two on and two down in the fifth, Pederson dug out a splitter from Taijuan Walker and hit a low line drive to left-center.
San Francisco Giants
Johan Rojas looked like he would cut it off in the gap, but the ball ticked off his glove as he went into a dive. Two runs scored, putting the Giants back on top.
Welcome To The Show
Harrison's debut was a roller-coaster early on but ultimately showed why he's such a tantalizing prospect. The 22-year-old got his first five outs on strikeouts, throwing heaters past all of the Phillies' righties, including Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto. But he also got hit surprisingly hard by the lefties, and Harper smacked a hanging slider for a two-run shot.
Those were the only runs Harrison allowed in 3 1/3 innings. He threw 65 pitches before giving way to Ryan Walker. Harrison struck out five, walked one and hit one.
Harrison has four pitches, but he relies heavily on his fastball, and it was electric in his debut. He became the only Giants left-handed starter other than Carlos Rodón to hit 97 mph in the last decade, topping out at 97.6 mph. Harrison got 11 swinging strikes on his go-to pitch and 14 overall.
Dad Strength
Walker returned after a short stint on the paternity list and threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings in his first appearance as the proud father of a baby girl. Walker struck out three, with the biggest one being a whiff of Schwarber with two on in the fourth.
Walker is one of 11 Giants rookies to debut this season, and he should spend years coming into games after Harrison and ahead of Doval. The right-hander has a 2.15 ERA in 33 appearances, with 53 strikeouts in 46 innings.
Looks Familiar
The Giants got a scare over the weekend when Thairo Estrada -- fresh off the IL -- took a pitch off his forearm. But an X-ray came back negative and Estrada missed just one game, which was crucial to a struggling lineup.
Estrada had hits in his first three at-bats and scored a run on Pederson's double. The night continued a hot stretch for Estrada, who had 12 hits in his previous eight games and now has five multi-hit games in his last nine. Estrada looked headed for the All-Star team in the first half; the Giants will be in much, much better shape in September if he can return to that form.