Despite Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Rockies, the Philadelphia Phillies (5-4) head to San Francisco having won two straight series and with a chance to keep building momentum against a Giants (3-7) club still searching for offense.
This will be the first of two series between the clubs in April.
The Giants have lost both of their home series thus far as the pair of New York teams defeated them 5-2 across seven games. In between facing the Yankees and Mets, the Giants traveled south to San Diego, taking two of three from the Padres. Now, the Phillies will attempt to continue the early season trend of East Coast dominance at Oracle Park.
The reason for the Giants’ struggles early is simple: they have failed to score runs. As a team, they have scored a collective 2.6 runs per game, the lowest total in Major League Baseball. Despite the Phillies' offense not meeting expectations, they are performing at a commendable level, averaging 4.0 runs per game.
Luis Arraez leads the team with 40 at bats through the 10 games, hitting .275 overall with three runs scored. There has not been much success behind him as familiar names such as Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, and Rafael Devers have struggled early on. Former Phillies center fielder Harrison Bader is batting a paltry .118 with his new team.
The Phillies will likely roll out both their left- and right-handed looks in this series as the probable pitchers feature a mirrored right-left-right sandwich. Andrew Painter will make the first road start of his career against right-handed Adrian Houser Monday night. Tuesday night will then feature a southpaw showdown between Cristopher Sánchez and Robbie Ray before Aaron Nola and Tyler Mahle close the series out on Wednesday.
The first starts for Painter and Houser paint a very similar tale. Both pitched 5.1 innings, allowing one earned run. Painter was more efficient in his start, however, allowing only five baserunners and striking out eight, while Houser allowed seven baserunners and only struck out four.
Sánchez’ start on Tuesday will mark the Phillies’ third time working through the rotation this season. His 17 strikeouts and 0.79 ERA in 11.1 innings puts the 2025 NL Cy Young runner-up right back on track for contention in 2026. Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers are both 4-for-8 lifetime against Sánchez, so he will have to navigate two veterans with an advantage against his stuff. Meanwhile, pitching opposite of Sánchez on Tuesday is… Bob. That’s right, Robbie Ray’s nickname is Bob. Ray allowed two earned runs in each of his first two starts, lasting 5.1 innings in each of them. Bryce Harper has seen Ray the most among the Phillies with two home runs and a .400 average in 15 career at-bats.
The midweek matinee matchup will then have Nola facing Mahle. Nola will look to build off his 6.1 innings of one-run baseball on Friday. Statistically, Oracle Park is Nola’s worst ballpark, however, as he has allowed 19 earned runs in 15.2 innings on his career. Mahle, meanwhile, is coming off a five-run blowup against the Mets on Friday. Kyle Schwarber has two home runs while Turner owns a .385 average on their careers against Mahle.
As is typical, Phillies fans will need to stay up late to watch most of this series, as Monday and Tuesday are scheduled 9:45 P.M. affairs on NBC Sports Philadelphia+.
Wednesday’s getaway day game is moved to the awkward mid-afternoon time of 3:45 P.M. and can be seen on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
