PHILADELPHIA -- Jordan Hicks didn¡¯t look long for Thursday afternoon¡¯s series finale at Citizens Bank Park after he gave up five runs in a 33-pitch first inning. But the hard-throwing right-hander somehow found a way to deliver the longest outing by a Giants starter on this road trip.
Hicks managed to get through a season-high seven innings after allowing only one hit the rest of the way, but the Giants couldn¡¯t climb out of their early hole, falling 6-4 to secure a split of the four-game series against the Phillies.
Matt Chapman drove in each of San Francisco¡¯s first three runs with an RBI single in the first inning and a two-run homer in the sixth, but he didn¡¯t get much help against Philadelphia left-hander Cristopher S¨¢nchez, who used his nasty changeup to strike out a career-high 12 over seven innings.
Tyler Fitzgerald extended his recent hot stretch with a solo shot off lefty Jos¨¦ Alvarado in the ninth, but it was too little, too late for the Giants (13-6), who dropped to 4-3 through the first two legs of their 10-game road trip through New York, Philadelphia and Anaheim.
¡°We continue to battle all the way to the end, which we¡¯ve shown all year long,¡± manager Bob Melvin said. ¡°Nothing to feel bad about as far as how we went about the game today. Obviously, we didn¡¯t win the game, but if we continue to play like that, we¡¯re going to come back in a lot of them.¡±
The first inning was a stumbling block for the Giants¡¯ starters throughout the entire series, as they combined to give up 10 runs to the Phillies in the opening frame, which made it difficult for them to pitch deep into the games. Left-hander Robbie Ray lasted only four innings after laboring through a 39-pitch first inning on Wednesday, and Hicks appeared destined for a similar fate after he experienced a rocky start.
Hicks took the mound in the bottom of the first with a 1-0 lead, but he couldn¡¯t hold it after he allowed the first five batters he faced to reach base, a stretch that was capped by back-to-back RBI singles from Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos. Hicks gave up another run on a wild pitch and then caught a bad break when Luis Matos -- who started in center field in place of Jung Hoo Lee -- couldn¡¯t hang on to a deep drive from Alec Bohm, allowing it to fall for a two-out RBI triple that extended the Phillies lead to 5-1.
Still, Hicks knew he had to settle in and find a way to regroup, especially since the Giants were already short in the bullpen, which had been forced to cover five innings following Ray¡¯s short start on Wednesday.
¡°I¡¯m not going to sit out there and just fold,¡± said Hicks, who has a 6.04 ERA through his first four starts of the year. ¡°My goal today was to go deep, and I wasn¡¯t going to let the first inning stop that.¡±
Hicks looked like a different pitcher once he managed to get his slider working in the second inning, as he came back to blank the Phillies over the next six frames.
¡°It was huge for us,¡± Melvin said. ¡°Obviously, didn¡¯t want to give up a five-spot in the first, but he kind of saved the bullpen there and pitched better as the game went along. Obviously, he went out on a good note, so he has something to feel good about.¡±
While Hicks found a way to channel his frustration, his emotions were running high throughout the afternoon, as tension began to build with the Phillies¡¯ dugout after he hit Trea Turner on the left wrist with an up-and-in 100.9 mph sinker in the second. The drama escalated in the fourth, when Hicks was visibly upset by home-plate umpire Phil Cuzzi¡¯s decision to grant time to Bohm, who didn¡¯t step out of the box until Hicks had already begun his delivery.
Hicks got Bohm to ground into a double play on his next pitch, though he continued to jaw with the Phillies third baseman as he walked back to the opposing dugout, which prompted Chapman and catcher Sam Huff to come out and try to calm down the 28-year-old on the mound.
Chapman¡¯s message to Hicks?
¡°'We need you to go and be in this game,'¡± Hicks said. ¡°'We need you to go deep in this game today.' Trying to basically not get me tossed. I appreciate him for that. He¡¯s good at diffusing situations.¡±
Cuzzi also had a misunderstanding with Lee in the top of the ninth, when the Korean star came off the bench to face Alvarado. Lee took a moment to adjust his helmet during the at-bat, though Cuzzi thought he was tapping his head to challenge a call he didn¡¯t like, which the league experimented with during Spring Training.
Cuzzi took exception and exchanged words with Lee after the game, though interpreter Justin Han ultimately helped clear up the confusion in the Giants¡¯ dugout.
¡°The umpire had a sensitive game,¡± Lee said via Han. ¡°That¡¯s probably what happened in the game today.¡±