SF Giants Press Clips Saturday, June 3, 2017

San Francisco Chronicle Younger Giants rout Phillies behind Blach, Span Henry Schulman

PHILADELPHIA — In the midst of his first five- game as a Giant, Denard Span stood in center field, looked to his right and saw Orlando Calixte in his fourth big-league game. To his left was Austin Slater in his major-league debut.

In the was Christian Arroyo. On the mound, 26-year-old rookie was humming toward his first big-league and .

When Plan A goes awry in baseball, Plan B is usually youth. In the midst of a terrible season, the Giants are moving in that direction.

“I know these guys are definitely bringing a little energy,” Span said after a highly irregular 10-0 Giants rout of the even more forlorn Phillies. “Sometimes it can give the team a little freshness.”

Under Plan A, which included healthy, Blach still might be in the instead of the rotation, where he is doing a phenomenal MadBum impersonation.

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Blach allowed seven singles but only one runner reached second base in his 112- victory. He has won his past four starts and finished at least seven in six of the eight starts he has made as Bumgarner’s place-holder.

Also, facing a brutal pitching staff on a team that went 6-22 in May, Blach became the second in the past 33 years and the first Giant since Ray Sadecki in 1969 to draw three walks. Umpire Phil Cuzzi called him on a borderline 3-2 pitch in his bid for a fourth walk. No pitcher has had four walks since 1950.

Blach also struck out three times and said, “I don’t know if I’m the first guy ever to get the hat trick.”

In fact, Blach was the third player and only pitcher in at least 104 years to walk and strike out three times in a nine- game. Jack Clark and Rob Deer were the others.

It was a night full of historic stats. The Giants stranded 17 runners, their most in a nine-inning game since 1943.

There was nothing weird or unusual about Blach, who is buzzing through lineups with a sinker- - combo that has hitters making consistently weak contact.

Before a game in which Slater would home a for his first hit and RBI, he said his entry into the majors was more comfortable with several other former in the clubhouse. That includes Blach, who earned his promotion to the bigs in 2016 by throwing this kind of game often in the Pacific Coast League.

“That’s the guy I remember seeing all last year,” Slater said. “He’s got it. He’s got great control and commands his pitches. He's tough.”

Span, Friday night’s literal and figurative gray beard, combined with No. 2 hitter Eduardo Nuñez for eight of the Giants’ 15 hits. Nuñez is the Giants’ hottest hitter. Span was cold until he tore into Phillies righty Jerad Eickhoff for two singles and a double in the first three innings.

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Nuñez had two doubles. The only other Giant with more than one hit was . hit two sacrifice flies. ’s two RBIs included one on a bases-loaded walk.

Span, Crawford and were the only Giants on the field in their 30s. At 23-33, the team has nothing to lose by going with some youth.

“We’re going to look at these young guys and see what we have with them,” Bochy said. “Slater is here hopefully to help this offense.”

Slater grounded out twice and walked before he sent a two-strike pitch from Joely Rodriguez through the middle to get that first hit and his nerves out of the way.

“After that, I felt great,” he said. “It’s the same game.”

San Francisco Chronicle Giants stall possible Christian Arroyo demotion Henry Schulman

PHILADELPHIA — Washington outfielder ’s suspension for charging the mound Monday at AT&T Park was reduced from four games to three, and he will be eligible to return Sunday in Oakland. Meanwhile, Giants reliever Hunter Strickland is appealing his six-game suspension for hitting Harper, and his hearing will not happen until June 13. officials seem to be treating Harper and Strickland differently because they consider Strickland’s offense more egregious.

Harper’s suspension was reduced in a sort of plea bargain, which the league seems disinclined to offer Strickland. MLB officials apparently want to send a message that drilling someone over a 3-year-old beef will not be tolerated.

So Strickland can continue to pitch until June 13, unless he decides to drop his appeal and serve his time. Meanwhile, other Giants players are affected.

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On Thursday, when the Giants were unsure whether Strickland’s appeal would be heard, infielder Christian Arroyo did not take the team charter to Philadelphia. The Giants were prepared to promote , in case they lost Strickland, to maintain a seven-man bullpen. Arroyo was the position player who would have returned to -A Sacramento to clear the roster spot. Only after the Giants were in the air did they know for sure that Strickland would be eligible to play in Philly, so they had Arroyo board a commercial flight.

Arroyo likely will be optioned when right fielder returns from the disabled list, possibly this weekend. Arroyo knows the score. “I’ve had conversations with Christian about going back and getting some at-bats,” said , who will be hard-pressed to start Arroyo with Eduardo Nuñez returning to third base as the Giants look at outfielder Austin Slater and await Pence’s return. Pence was supposed to rest Friday and play his third rehab game for Class A San Jose on Saturday, but he talked his way into Friday’s lineup. He went 1-for-4 and scored twice.

Briefly: The Phillies will promote right-hander starter Ben Lively to make his big-league debut against the Giants on Saturday. … To clear 25- and 40-man roster spots for Slater, the Giants designated outfielder for assignment. ... The Phillies’ Jr. threw 21/3 innings of shutout relief. He is the son of the former Giants right-hander.

San Francisco Chronicle Giants, A’s at opposite ends of homers spectrum John Shea

This craze is not going away despite the Giants’ best efforts to keep in the park.

The Giants remain last in the majors in homers (42 through Friday), missing the fastest way to score and a trend that obviously can be a great asset. The Astros, Yankees and Nationals all are first-place teams and all are near the top of the home run leaderboard.

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With May in the books, here’s the month’s home run total: 1,060. The only month in history with more was May 2000 when 1,069 homers were hit.

And that’s after a homer-happy April: 863, the most in any April except for, again, 2000 when 931 were hit.

The 2000 season, the height of the steroid era, produced a record 5,693 homers, and hitters are on pace this season to surpass that.

The spikes have been dramatic — from 4,186 in 2014 to 4,909 in 2015 to 5,610 last year.

We know a main reason for all the homers in 2000. Check the Mitchell Report. But now? The theories are wide-ranging, including the diminishing value of the two-strike approach, which is being re-emphasized by the A’s after embarrassingly high numbers of late.

“There’s more emphasis on power, maybe not as much of an emplasis on putting the ball in play with two strikes,” A’s manager said. “It’s not like it used to be. We used to see guys choke up considerably, widen their stances a little bit, go the other way.”

Nationals manager said he’s noticing an awful lot of counts favorable to hitters.

“It’s cool to hit 20, 25 home runs and then hit .215, .220. That’s not helping your team as much,” said Baker, who expressed the importance of advancing runners, creating first-and-third situations etc. “Like in basketball if you live and die by the 3-point shots. When you’re hot, you’re hot. When you’re cold, you miss the layup.”

Other possible reasons for the homer surge:

Harder baseballs. Increased pitch velocity. The lack of shame over , which increase annually. The emphasis on upper-cut swings, launch angles and exit velocities. The closer fences, at least in a few parks.

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And maybe in some cases, more undetectable drugs, a possibility we’ve learned not to disregard.

Unlike the Giants, the A’s dig the long ball. Through Friday, they were tied for fifth in the majors in homers with 78, and Khris Davis and Yonder Alonso ranked among the ’s top five HR hitters, Davis with 16 and Alonso with 15. Brandon Belt had 10 for the Giants, the only club in the majors last season without a 20-homer hitter. Must be the hands: When Willie Mays hung out with Washington players Wednesday in the visiting clubhouse at AT&T Park, he greeted them with firm handshakes and joked with Ryan Zimmerman to get a manicure. “He can’t see that well, but he can feel,” Baker said. “Back in the day, your hand strength was more important than arm and back strength. He had big ol’ hands. Huge hands. He used to get on me about trying to increase my hand strength.

“I’m on these guys about hand strength. I’m on my son ( Darren ) about hand strength. That’s what starts and stops the bat. How strong your hands are, the more control you have.” History lesson: Mays lit up the room with his presence and dialogue. The players were born long after the Say Hey Kid’s final game in 1973, and some aren’t exactly up on their baseball history. Mays spoke with one Dominican-born player who admitted he hadn’t heard of . Baker said another player, not on his current team, once asked if Mays “was even that good.” Baker had to assure the player: Yes, he was.

Unforgettable: White Sox broadcaster Ken “Hawk ” Harrelson said he’s retiring after next season, ending a 34-year career behind the microphone on Chicago’s South Side. His career as a general manager was over long ago. In fact, it lasted all of one year and was about as fruitful as Jerry Coleman ’s one year as manager. Coleman’s 42-year Hall of Fame broadcasting career with the Padres — he won the Ford C. Frick Award in 2005 — was interrupted so he could manage in 1980. The Padres finished last.

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Similarly, Harrelson was Chicago’s GM in 1986, and all he did was trade rookie Bobby Bonilla to Pittsburgh and fire Tony LaRussa and assistant GM Dave Dombrowski . All rose to prominence elsewhere. Bonilla became a six-time All-Star. La Russa went to Oakland and later the Hall of Fame. Dombrowski built three pennant-winning teams, one that won a World , the 1997 Marlins.

His third baseman that year was Bonilla.

Canseco and Donaldson: One of Jose Canseco ’s most epic home runs came at the SkyDome in the 1989 A’s-Blue Jays playoffs, a fifth-deck shot that teammate Billy Beane , after the game, called a “home run of biblical proportion.” Well, former A’s third baseman Josh Donaldson reached the fifth deck Tuesday at what’s now called the Rogers Centre and seemed to be in awe of his accomplishment, saying, “It’s hard to really give a great explanation of it because there’s really nothing that’s similar to it that I’ve experienced.” Twenty home runs have sailed into the fifth deck since the stadium opened, and Canseco hit three, including the first. The second came in 1996 by fellow Bash Brother Mark McGwire . Donaldson had seen replays of the Canseco and McGwire blasts and now is in their company. Around the majors: The Red Sox are so confident with as their third baseman that they’re rumored to be interested in White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier . For now, the plan is for Sandoval — despite the fact he’s a switch-hitter — to platoon with Deven Marrero . ... What a mess baseball would have been if Bryce Harper were seriously hurt in the Hunter Strickland brawl. Imagine both Harper and Mike Trout , two of the game’s most prominent faces, shelved long term. Trout could miss a couple of months with a torn thumb ligament, the result of a headfirst . ... Baker played his final two season in Oakland and said of the A’s ballpark pursuit, “I’d like to see them build it downtown.” ... No one can convince this generation of players not to slide headfirst, which risks hand, finger and wrist injuries. Neither Angels manager Mike Scioscia nor GM Billy Eppler plans to try to change Trout’s mind so that he’d slide feet first. With his headfirst slides, Trout has been a master at missing tags, instinctively maneuvering safely to the base. This time, it backfired, and the debate about which

7 way to slide has returned. … By the way, whatever happened to the wonderfully effective hook slide? Old-timers swear by it.

San Jose Mercury News Complete Blach-out for Giants in Philadelphia Andrew Baggarly

PHILADELPHIA – Ty Blach did not receive a beer shower after throwing his first career shutout Friday night. The strongest beverage he guzzles is fortified with Vitamin D.

Might he enjoy a nice, cold glass of milk, then, after the Giants’ 10-0 victory over the ?

“Hmm,” he said, with the upturned brows of someone contemplating a splurge. “Maybe chocolate milk.”

He earned it. Make it whole. Any flavor he wants. The 26-year-old rookie did not merely control the Friday night. He bent and shaped it from the mound. He mastered it from the batter’s box, too.

Blach became the first Giants pitcher since Ray Sadecki 1969 to draw three walks in a game, although a young and inexperienced Phillies pitching staff had something to do with that. More impressive was the way Blach kept ruffling the fringe and firing strikes all the way to the handshake line in a rare, relaxing victory to start a seven-game road trip.

Blach fired a seven-hitter while throwing both the first complete game and shutout of his career. The Phillies only advanced one runner into all night. Blach struck out four and did not walk a batter while throwing 112 pitches.

Along the way, Blach also became the first Giants rookie to win four consecutive starts since Madison Bumgarner in 2010 – and that’s handy to know, because Blach is essentially Bumgarner’s replacement in the rotation for now.

When Bumgarner returns from his shoulder injury, there’s little doubt that he and Blach will be rotation mates for the foreseeable future.

“The kid really has stepped in and done a nice job, a terrific job,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He gets a shutout and good for him. You just love his nice, quick tempo out there. … We don’t have a lot of these games. It was good to relax and let him go for the shutout.”

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From several aspects, there aren’t many games like this. Even while scoring 10 runs, the Giants left 11 runners on base in the first four innings and 17 on the night – their most in a nine-inning game since 1943.

Blach wondered if he became the first player to achieve the “double hat trick” of three walks and three strikeouts in a nine-inning game. He’s the third, actually. Blach forms an odd company with sluggers Rob Deer (in 1991) and Jack Clark (1987).

The greatest outlier, though, is what Blach is managing to do on the mound. In a season when home runs are gushing into the stands at a record rate, Blach is sealing the bulkheads and working underneath the launch angle, all while working at a snappy pace.

Pitchers have a way of adjusting to hitters. Blach is doing it on a macro level. And his , Buster Posey, would like the entire Giants staff to get in the sink of things.

“We were talking about it today, Buster and I,” Blach said. “He was saying that there are a lot of guys who throw hard, but don’t locate as well. That allows hitters to leverage the middle of the plate. We were in the video room and he was studying some of their and brought that up: `I’d rather see a guy throwing 95 down the middle than 91 or 92 and locating it really well.’

“For me, I think it’s just a matter of focusing on working the ball down in the zone, using sinkers and , and changing speeds, changing locations.”

Blach has given up just four home runs all season, and in the process, has leveraged the most consistent attribute of a troubled Giants roster — a reliable and surehanded — to his advantage.

“He gets pretty good sink and he locates,” Bochy said. “He stays on the corners for the most part and he gets late action on his sinker and changeup. It’s a downward action. It helps him keep the ball out of the air. Then he’ll mix in a curve and , and he’s got enough when they’re looking down that he can four-seam it on their hands.”

The Giants haven’t made an upward move in the standings, but they slowly and quietly have crept near the top of one major league ranking. They are third in the majors with a 58.9 percent quality start percentage, behind only the Nationals and Cardinals.

Increasingly, their starters are lasting six-plus innings and giving up three earned runs or fewer – and while the minimum standards of a quality start quantify to a relatively unimpressive 4.50 ERA, there is irreplaceable value in not pitching your team out of the ballgame.

Blach is a huge part of that trend. He has thrown five consecutive quality starts since his May 6 disaster in Cincinnati, when he became the first Giants pitcher in more than a decade to give up

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10 runs in a start.

It would be human nature for a pitcher, especially for a contact-oriented lefty like Blach, to become governed by fear and begin gnawing at the corners like a timid dormouse. Blach has done the opposite. His strikes thrown percentage is higher since the Cincinnati game.

“Nothing really changed,” said Blach, who gave up two of his four homers in that start against the Reds. “Since then, I just felt I wanted to go out there and execute. We had good game plans. We know these hitters well, and I know if I’m ahead, I can do a lot more things. It was great to be able to do that tonight.”

He even finds a way to help himself at the plate. Blach drew a leadoff walk and scored in the second inning. He drew a two-out walk and scored in the third. He walked again in the fourth. And it took a borderline, 3-2 strike call from plate umpire Phil Cuzzi to keep Blach from becoming the first big league pitcher since 1950 (Chuck Stobbs, anyone?) to draw four walks in a game.

As it stood, three walks was pretty rare. The last major league pitcher to do it was the Rockies’ in 2009. Before that, it was Joaquin Andujar in 1984. And Sadecki, the last Giant to do it, somehow pulled off the feat twice in a 10-day span in 1969.

“We were in the dugout,” said Bochy, “cracking up.”

Yet the Giants truly did not put the game away until the sixth inning. They stranded 11 runners in the first four innings alone. It took Eduardo Nuñez’s two-run double in the sixth to more or less settle things.

The top of the order had perhaps its most productive game of the season. Leadoff man Denard Span matched his career high with five hits, while freshly minted No.2 batter Nuñez had three hits plus a walk and now boasts a .375 average over his last 16 games.

“The top of the order, really, that’s what makes your offense go,” Bochy said.

The Phillies demonstrated why they went 6-22 in May. Cesar Hernandez botched a ground ball for an that led to a run in the first inning, and pitcher Joely Rodriguez missed a while covering first base that opened the door for a four-run sixth.

But Rodriguez is still a major league pitcher, and so Austin Slater’s RBI single up the middle most definitely counted as the Stanford kid’s first major league hit.

Slater admitted to nerves in his first at-bat, when he grounded out with the bases loaded. After that, he said he settled into the rhythm of the game. And he knew from playing behind Blach at

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Triple-A Sacramento: that rhythm is uptempo.

“Absolutely, that’s the Ty I remember seeing all last year,” Slater said.

San Jose Mercury News Giants reliever Hunter Strickland’s appeal hearing date is set Andrew Baggarly

PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper already had his four-game suspension reduced to three games and he is nearly finished serving it.

But it’ll be awhile before the Giants and right-hander Hunter Strickland have a resolution. The league won’t hear his appeal until June 13, the club said.

Both combatants appealed their suspensions stemming from last Monday’s on-field fisticuffs, when Strickland hit Harper in the hip with a pitch and the Nationals outfielder charged the mound. Strickland received a six-game suspension and undisclosed fine.

The difference: Harper agreed to drop his appeal when the league offered to reduce his suspension. The league apparently made no such offer to Strickland — an indication that MLB officials saw the pitcher as the clear instigator despite his rather questionable stance that the pitch wasn’t intentional. The Giants cannot replace Strickland on the roster while he is serving his suspension. For now, they won’t have to make arrangements to send down a position player in favor of another pitcher. But with Strickland’s appeal situation still up in the air as the team had to travel to Philadelphia on Thursday, Giants officials had to make a last-minute decision whether to send infielder Christian Arroyo or pitcher Chris Stratton. Arroyo later boarded an afternoon commercial flight and landed several hours after the rest of the team.

San Jose Mercury News Giants Notes Andrew Baggarly

PHILADELPHIA – Austin Slater will make his major league debut on Friday and start in right field against the Phillies. But he might not have license to the position for long.

Right fielder Hunter Pence could be activated from the disabled list before the weekend series is over, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. Pence told trainers that his strained hamstring felt so

11 good, and he was seeing the ball so well, that he wanted to play a third rehab game for Single-A San Jose on Friday. He had been scheduled to take the day off, or at most, get a couple at-bats as a .

Pence has been out since May 13 with a strained left hamstring; the club has been ultra cautious with him because he aggravated last year’s right hamstring strain to the extent where he required surgery to repair torn tendons.

But Bochy backtracked on his stated desire for Pence to get at least 20 at-bats in the minors. “He felt he saw the ball very well,” Bochy said.

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The Giants designated 35-year-old outfielder Justin Ruggiano for assignment in order to put Slater on the 40-man roster. Ruggiano has the option of reporting to Triple-A Sacramento or becoming a free agent.

Slater and Orlando Calixte are starting in the Friday, but you can’t quite call it a full- scale youth movement yet.

In fact, it’s possible that 22-year-old infielder Christian Arroyo could be the odd man sent down to make room when the club activates Pence. Arroyo didn’t fly on the team’s charter to Philadelphia, instead catching a later commercial flight, because the Giants didn’t know until later in the day whether they would option him to Triple-A Sacramento or keep him on the roster.

They might have kept right-hander Chris Stratton in Arroyo’s place, in the event that Hunter Strickland’s six-game suspension would begin in Philadelphia and leave them a man short in the bullpen. As it turns out, Strickland’s appeal hearing was scheduled for June 12.

But Arroyo, who is hitting .143 in 17 games since his huge hit in New York, knows the situation. And Bochy met with him to make him aware that going back to Sacramento is probably in his near-term future.

In the meantime, Bochy said Arroyo will contribute off the bench, with Eduardo Nuñez and his shaky hamstring back at third base and either Slater or Orlando Calixte expected to play in left.

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Why is Strickland’s hearing set for June 12 when Bryce Harper already had his suspension reduced from four games to three and is nearly finished serving it?

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Well, Harper dropped his appeal when he agreed to the shorter suspension. It appears the league is unwilling to shorten Strickland’s six-game suspension. So the hearing remains on the docket. Now … why, in the era of Facetime is it not scheduled for more than two weeks after the suspension was announced? I’m not sure anyone has the answer to that.

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Madison Bumgarner played catch again Friday from 60 feet. Then he went inside and threw from … 5 feet.

He threw a weighted, rubber ball against a cinderblock wall. This sounds dangerous, but Bumgarner did not get hit by any ricochets. Keiichi Yabu wouldn’t have been so fortunate. —

Slater got the news of his promotion from Triple-A manager Dave Brundage early Thursday morning — very early Thursday morning.

“I was getting on the bus at 5 a.m. to go to the airport when he said, `I can’t let you get on that bus,’” Slater said. “He said I was going to San Francisco. I was half asleep. It really didn’t hit me until the drive over.”

Slater arrived at AT&T Park in time to join the Giants and take their charter to Philadelphia. The Jacksonville, Fla., native got word to his family in time to book travel. His parents and sister will be in attendance Friday at Citizens Bank Park.

Slater was slowed this spring while coming back from a fractured hand – not the hamate bone, but near it – that he sustained on a swing while playing a little more than a week with La Romana in the Dominican Winter League.

Slater, a Stanford product and eighth-round pick in the 2014 draft, was hitting .322/.381/.460 with four home runs and 26 RBIs in 174 at-bats for Triple-A Sacramento. He will become the first member of the Giants’ 2014 draft class to reach the major leagues.

He probably would have signed as a top pick out of high school if he hadn’t broken his ankle while playing Ultimate Frisbee before his senior year. As a result, he fell to the 44th round (he didn’t sign with the Dodgers), and honored his commitment to Stanford.

“I can see it as a blessing in disguise, because I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything in the world,” said Slater, who has worked out in Palo Alto in each of the past three offseasons.

He has stayed close to campus so he can peck away at his bachelor’s degree in science, technology and society.

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In the meantime, he has played all three outfield spots and could be used in center in a pinch. He also knows plenty of his new teammates from the minors, from – and now from his first big league flight.

MLB.com Blach shows poise on mound, patience at plate Ben Harris

PHILADELPHIA -- Ty Blach is not Madison Bumgarner . But filling in for the injured Giants ace, Blach made his mark on Friday night's 10-0 win over the Phillies both from the mound, where he spun the best start of his Major League career, and from the plate.

Blach tossed his first career shutout on 112 pitches. Full Game Coverage

He became the first Giant since Bumgarner to throw at least seven innings and allow three or fewer runs in five consecutive starts. In that span, Blach holds an ERA of 1.91.

"This kid really has stepped in and done just a nice job, terrific job," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.

The Giants have needed all the rotation stability they can get after losing Bumgarner early in the season. The 26-year-old Blach has done more than his part.

Blach worked with multiple runners on base for just one at-bat and forced the Phillies to pound 15 balls into the grass, two of which resulted in inning-ending double plays.

Entering the eighth inning for the third straight start, Blach's pitch was low, his command had not wavered, and he vowed to complete what he had so often dreamed of as a kid.

"It was good to be able to get through the eighth and know that I had a chance to go the rest of the game," Blach said. "That was awesome that they had the confidence in me to let me go out there."

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And while he wasn't hitting the massive dingers we've become accustomed to seeing rocket off Bumgarner's lumber, Blach chipped in offensively with patience and poise, getting on base, working counts, and setting the table for the top of the order.

"[Blach] helps himself with the little things: holding runners, fielding his position, and handling the bat," Bochy said.

Blach drew three free passes in his first three trips to the plate, becoming the first Giants pitcher to walk three times since Ray Sadecki in 1969. He had never walked in a Major League game before. The Giants pitching staff had just one walk at the plate this season. He led off the second with a walk and scored two batters later. In the third, he extended the inning with a two-out walk and scored again, this time on a Brandon Belt bases-loaded walk, which doubled his career runs scored total. In the fourth, he walked for a third time. Had home-plate umpire Phil Cuzzi called Joely Rodriguez 's sixth-inning, full-count to Blach low, Blach would have been the first pitcher to walk four times since 1950.

"We were cracking up, this guy's about to walk four times," Bochy said.

But Blach admitted the offering that rung him up was "a really good pitch," the first of three consecutive strikeouts in his final three at-bats.

"I was just trying to get some good pitches to hit and was able to work some counts and draw some walks early on and then they threw me some good pitches later on," Blach said.

MLB.com Blach shuts out Phillies; Span has 5 hits Todd Zolecki and Ben Harris

PHILADELPHIA -- The Giants might have found the perfect antidote to their offensive woes.

Behind the first shutout of left-hander Ty Blach 's career, the Giants beat the Phillies on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park, 10-0. The Giants entered the game ranked last in baseball, averaging 3.33 runs per game, but they scored a season-high 10 runs on 15 hits. They were the

15 most runs San Francisco scored in a game since Sept. 27, 2016, when they scored 12 against the Rockies. Full Game Coverage

"I can't tell you when we've had a game like this, it's been a while. ... It's good to have one that guys can relax and enjoy a little bit because we don't have a lot of these games," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.

"It's a good way to start the road trip. We got shut out twice in the last homestand, almost shut out a third time, so it's good to see these bats come alive." Giants center fielder Denard Span finished 5-for-6 and had three hits through the game's first three innings. Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford each picked up two RBIs in that span to give the Giants an early 5-0 lead. Span singled and scored a run in the sixth, and he doubled with two outs in the eighth to pick up his first five-hit game since April 28, 2015, and the fifth five-hit game of his career. He entered the game hitless in his last 13 at-bats. The Phillies hoped to put a 6-22 May behind them, but their struggles continued . Their rotation has a 5.41 ERA through 52 games. Phillies right-hander Jerad Eickhoff walked a career-high five in just 2 2/3 innings. He has a 6.94 ERA in his past seven starts.

"It's hard because everybody in here is working, giving it their best effort," Eickhoff said. "It's just not coming through, for myself especially. I was trying to get this thing turned around and just couldn't control my fastball." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Blach party: Blach not only threw the first shutout of his career, he made history at the plate. He allowed seven hits and struck out four to improve to 4-2 with a 3.24 ERA. He also walked in the second, third and fourth innings, becoming the first pitcher to walk three times in a game since Colorado's Aaron Cook on Oct. 1, 2009. It was the first time the Phillies walked a pitcher three times in a game since Sept. 14, 1936 (Red Lucas), and it was the first time a Giants pitcher walked three times in a game since Ray Sadecki on Sept. 1, 1969. More >Welcome to the show: Giants right fielder Austin Slater made his big league debut , and he picked up the first hit and RBI of his career in the sixth inning, when he singled to center field against Phillies left- hander Joely Rodriguez . QUOTABLE "I've never seen a team where a number of players -- both hitters and pitchers -- are basically in

16 prolonged slumps. We've got to get back to the drawing board with everybody and just keep pushing. I'm trying to stay positive. It's not easy, but we don't have an alternative." -- Phillies manager , on current state of team SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Phillies starters are 0-8 with an 8.02 ERA in their last 13 home games. No Phillies starter has won a game at home since Jeremy Hellickson on April 27, when the Phillies were 11-9.

Blach became the second pitcher to strike out three times in a game and draw three free passes. The only other pitcher to do so was Ernie Koob in 1916. Blach walked in his first three plate appearances, then struck out in his final three trips to the plate. WHAT'S NEXT Giants: takes the mound for the Giants with a chance to clinch a series win Saturday at 1:05 p.m. PT. Cueto has struggled in his career against the Phillies with a 5.37 ERA in 11 starts. Phillies: Right-hander Ben Lively makes his Major League debut Saturday at 4:05 p.m. ET. He went 6-1 with a 2.40 ERA in nine starts with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He was the Phillies' Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2016.

MLB.com Giants tap youngster Slater to boots offense Ben Harris

PHILADELPHIA -- Austin Slater was about to board the bus Thursday morning with Triple-A Sacramento when his manager, Dave Brundage, stopped him and diverted his course.

Instead of making the road trip to Albuquerque, Slater, still half-asleep and told he was destined for brighter lights and bigger crowds, learned he was called up to the Giants as the second hitting prospect to have broken the Triple-A ranks in the last four days. Full Game Coverage Slater, who was tearing up the Pacific Coast League, slashing .322/.381/.460, made his first start Friday and went 1-for-5 with an RBI, a walk and a run scored in the 10-0 win against the Phillies. He batted in the eighth spot and played right field. Veteran Justin Ruggiano was designated for assignment to make room for Slater on the 40-man roster, ranked as the Giants' No. 17 prospect by MLB Pipeline.

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As has their offense as a whole (.635 OPS), the Giants outfield has been a glaring weakness (.579 OPS). Both of those OPS marks rank last in the Majors.

"Slater's here to hopefully help this offense out," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said before Friday's game. "He can play all three outfield positions. He's been swinging the bat well down there so we're going to take a look at him." Utility man Orlando Calixte was brought up to the Majors earlier in the week after hitting .287/.331/.507 with Triple-A Sacramento. Even before the calendar flipped to May, the Giants called up 22-year-old Christian Arroyo , who had been raking with Triple-A as well.

Slater, 24, understood the organization's willingness to respond to Minor League production given its current predicament.

"It shows that they're willing to reward stellar play and [Arroyo] was hitting out of his mind down there. ... In your mind you're thinking, 'He set a benchmark, but if I play well they're not afraid to make a move,'" Slater said.

The Giants -- now 22-33 and looking up in the standings at three West teams that all look to be postseason contenders at the moment -- are in a peculiar position. They have young, controllable talent, but the necessary supporting cast is not currently present. They have to decide whether they will be true sellers come the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline.

In turn, they've begun promoting hitters in search of a spark for their anemic offense.

"We want to take a look at these young guys, see what we have with them," Bochy said.

MLB.com Cueto looks to end road struggles vs. Phillies Ben Harris

The Phillies have been a thorn in the side of veteran righty Johnny Cueto.

Cueto (5-4, 4.37 ERA), the Giants' top pitcher with Madison Bumgarner still rehabbing injuries

18 suffered earlier this season in a dirt bike accident, has struggled in his career against the Phillies with a 5.37 ERA and .272 opponents' average in 11 starts. Philadelphia is the only team Cueto has made more than four starts against with an ERA above 5.00. Full Game Coverage

For Phillies right-hander Ben Lively, the third time is the charm.

Despite being called up in April and again in May, Lively never made an appearance. He'll get that chance on Saturday when he squares off against Cueto.

Lively was named the Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Month in April and has continued to pitch well. For the year, he's 6-1 with a 2.40 ERA and a WHIP under 1.00. In his last two seasons in the Phillies organization, he's thrown 227 innings with a 2.61 ERA between Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Lively is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the 24th-best prospect in the Phillies' system. Things to know about this game

• The Giants entered the series with the second-worst on the road among all NL teams. Only the Phillies (.250) were worse.

• Cueto, like the rest of the Giants starting rotation, has struggled away from San Francisco this season. Cueto has given up 21 earned runs in 37 innings on the road (5.11 ERA) while allowing just 13 earned runs in 33 innings at home (3.55 ERA).

CSNbayarea.com Giants enjoy every moment of the Ty Blach show in Philadelphia Alex Pavlovic

PHILADELPHIA — Managers often talk of pitchers “sniffing” the finish line in a complete game. For Ty Blach, that process didn’t start in the late innings Friday. He has been on the prowl for a couple of weeks.

Blach pitched into the eighth in Chicago but didn’t record an out, and he went 7 2/3 in his last outing before getting the hook. He has been thinking of finishing the deal, and as Friday night

19 wore on, he started to eye that 27th out. Bruce Bochy did, too, and he let his young left-hander go for the shutout in a blowout.

Blach got there on his 112th pitch, and then he turned and waited for the Buster Hug. As the Giants gathered to shake hands and celebrate a 10-0 win over the Phillies, Blach turned and looked for the baseball. He tucked it into his glove, a memento from his first complete game and first shutout as a big leaguer.

“It’s pretty cool,” Blach said, smiling wide. “It’s one of those things that as a kid, you’re always dreaming of being able to throw a complete game in the big leagues.”

Blach didn’t stop there. He also tied a franchise record for a pitcher by drawing three walks. It was the Ty Blach Show, and the Giants were happy to watch. When it was over, Blach accepted a round of hugs from teammates and coaches. Bochy stood last, and after hugging Blach, he smiled and patted him on the back like a proud father.

“This kid has stepped in and done a nice job, a terrific job,” Bochy said. “He steps in and gets his first shutout. Good for him. He had the curveball, the changeup, and he was hitting his spots. You just love, and I talk about it so much, his nice, quick tempo.”

The other halves of the innings didn’t go nearly as fast. The Giants entered the weekend ranked last in the big leagues in runs, on-base percentage and several other markers of a good or even average lineup. The Phillies apparently plan to change all that. The first night in Philadelphia was one for padding stats and releasing frustration. The Giants pounded 15 hits and accepted 10 walks.

Much of the damage was done from the top. Denard Span had three hits through three innings and finished with his fifth career five-hit game. He scored three runs. Eduardo Nuñez had three hits and a walk, raising his average to .288. Bochy said he’s going to leave Nuñez at third for now, hopeful that he can keep a consistent swing without jumping around from position to position.

The production came from the bottom of the lineup, too. Blach nearly tied the MLB record for walks by a pitcher but home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi punched him out on a borderline 3-2 pitch in the sixth.

“It was a strike,” Blach said.

Blach said he was just trying to “get good pitches to hit” and noted that the Phillies started pitching him tougher in the second half of the game. After the walks, he struck out three straight times.

It was a night for stats, good and bad. Austin Slater picked up his first career hit but also struck out twice.

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“I wasn’t expecting six (at-bats),” he said of his debut. “But it was nice. I got a lost of 'firsts' out of the way.”

He also got a chance to witness a first. Slater was Blach’s teammate in Triple-A last season. This night didn’t surprise him.

“That’s the guy I remember seeing all of last year,” he said. “He’s got great control and a great mix of pitches. He’s tough.”

CSNbayarea.com Instant Analysis Alex Pavlovic

PHILADELPHIA — On and off the field, the Giants did not enjoy three games with the Nationals, who have the best record in the National League. The NL East’s last-place team proved to be far more hospitable.

The Phillies showed exactly why they’re the only team still seeking that 20th win, issuing 10 walks and making several defensive misplays amid a barrage of hard-hit balls from the Giants. The offensive explosion was backed by a career-best night from Ty Blach, who threw his first complete game and first shutout in the 10-0 win. Blach has won four consecutive starts.

Here are five things to know from the night we discovered where Daniel Nava has been playing …

--- Austin Slater’s first MLB hit was a two-strike RBI single up the middle in the sixth. His parents cheered from the first row behind the visiting dugout. Slater was 1-for-5 with a walk in his debut.

--- Blach's last five starts: 37 2/3 innings, eight runs. It's hard to imagine the Giants moving him back to the bullpen when Madison Bumgarner returns. Perhaps a trade of a veteran starter will make it a moot point.

--- Jerad Eickhoff walked Blach in his first two plate appearances and Mark Leiter Jr. gave him a free pass in the fourth inning. Blach tied a franchise record for walks by a pitcher. Ray Sadecki did it twice in 1969 and did it in 1952. Blach was the first MLB pitcher in eight years to walk three times, and he nearly tied the MLB record. On a 3-2 count in the sixth, Blach was called out on a pitch right at the very bottom of the zone.

--- Welcome to Pad Your Stats Weekend. The Giants will face Ben Lively in his MLB debut Saturday and then Jeremy Hellickson (4.45 ERA) on Sunday. The lineup took full advantage of

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Eickhoff’s lack of command, putting up five runs on six hits and five walks in the first three innings alone. Denard Span did much of the work, finishing with five hits in six at-bats.

--- Leiter Jr. took over with the bases loaded in the third, giving us all a reminder that we’re hurtling towards death. The son of Mark Leiter (obviously) and nephew of Al was making his 12th career appearance. He gave up one hit and walked three in 2 1/3 innings.

CSNbayarea.com Is Austin Slater part of a youth movement for Giants? Alex Pavlovic

PHILADELPHIA -- Three hours before Friday's game, Christian Arroyo and Austin Slater walked out of the clubhouse and looked around. They were in search of the at Citizens Bank Park. This is all new to them, and it's new to the Giants, too.

They added Arroyo, now 22, a month ago, and the 24-year-old Slater and 25-year-old Orlando Calixte have joined from Triple-A Sacramento over the past week. Slater is hitting eighth and playing right field Friday in his major league debut.

Is this a youth movement for an aging and struggling team?

"You know what, we want to take a look at the young guys and see what we have here," manager Bruce Bochy said.

There are, however, caveats. Bochy said Slater will play every day until Hunter Pence returns from a hamstring injury, and that could be any day now. Arroyo, after slumping through the end of May, was ready to go back to Sacramento before Hunter Strickland's appeal hearing was pushed back two weeks. He flew on his own Thursday and it appears he'll be optioned in the coming days.

So, the Giants haven't yet committed to a rebuild or even a new look for their current squad. But they are curious to see what they have in players like Slater, who will primarily be a corner outfielder but can handle center in a pinch.

Slater, a Stanford product, had an .841 OPS for the River Cats. He's a career .308 hitter in the minors and the power is starting to come. Slater suffered a fracture in his left hand playing winter ball, and the Giants believe that held him back in the spring. Now fully healthy and locked in, Slater is excited for the opportunity. He wasn't allowed to get on a 5 a.m. bus on Thursday. Eventually, manager Dave Brundage told him to head to San Francisco for the chartered flight to Philadelphia.

"I really didn't know what was going on," he said, laughing. "I was half asleep."

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He was all smiles Friday. His parents are here, along with his sister. Some friends are coming up Saturday to watch the Jacksonville native continue his first weekend in the big leagues.

Slater hopes to break through the way Arroyo did early on. He said watching Arroyo's promotion helped motivate him even more.

"Absolutely. Being down there, you love to see that kind of stuff happen," he said. "It shows you they're willing to reward stellar play. You think, alright, he set the benchmark but if I play well they're not afraid to make a move."

ESPN.com The sommelier of swat: Corey Dickerson is an unapologetic ‘bat freak’ Jerry Crasnick

Before Corey Dickerson became a budding All-Star with the , he was recognizable for the company he kept. Upon arrival at the ballpark, he rarely went anywhere without a bat in his hand. When Dickerson wasn't spraying line drives in the cage during his time with the , he was roaming the clubhouse with a Tucci model TL-271 in his grip. Or sitting at his locker, holding the barrel with two fingers and lightly pinging at the top to locate the . Or cleaning it with alcohol or tape remover to detect precisely where he made contact the previous game. Or weighing it. Or taping the handle, depending on how sore his hands were on a given day. Amid the daily maintenance, Dickerson was perpetually on the lookout for good wood. Since his days in youth ball, he had developed a Tony Gwynn-like obsession with bats and an appreciation for the damage he could inflict with the right model in his hands. Bats didn't arrive in big boxes en masse from the manufacturer when he played in the minor leagues, so they were a precious commodity to be alternately hoarded or mooched.

"He's definitely a bat freak,'' says , Dickerson's teammate from Double-A ball to the majors. "If I hit a couple of homers, he would come to my locker and say, 'Can I get one of these?' So I'd give him one and he'd hit a couple of homers and I'd be like, 'Hey, can I see one of your bats?' And he'd say, 'I don't have enough.' I'd be like, 'What the heck? Come on, Dickey.' He loves bats and he loves hitting.'' Based on the numbers, Dickerson is quite proficient at selecting the right weapon and knowing how to use it. At age 28, he's that rare hitter who has taken his game to a different level after leaving Coors Field. After the Rays ranked 14th in the American League in runs in 2016, they are a surprising third behind the and this season. Dickerson, who arrived from Colorado in a four-player trade 16 months ago, is a big reason why. He leads the

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AL with a .342 batting average and 75 hits, ranks third behind Mike Trout and Aaron Judge with a .603 slugging percentage, and just set a Rays club record with 44 hits in May. Dickerson's road to success has come with some adjustments. He's had to experiment to find productive ways to fill the downtime between plate appearances as a designated hitter, and he's grappled with the challenges of batting leadoff while staying true to his naturally aggressive approach.

In a world of hitters who eyeball pitches on the black and revel in deep counts, Dickerson is succeeding as the anti-Joey Votto. Dickerson has swung at a major league-high 46.9 percent of pitches outside the strike zone this season. That's more than 2 percentage points higher than the notoriously free-swinging Salvador Perez, who has drawn 105 walks in 2,891 career with the . Dickerson is thriving thanks to quick hands and a Vladimir Guerrero-like ability to crush balls that most hitters can barely reach. He recently doubled on a pitch from Texas starter Nick Martinez that bounced before it reached home plate. "He's definitely a throwback, bad-ball hitter,'' said Rays hitting Chad Mottola. "There's nothing he can't cover, even out of the strike zone.'' Dickerson, a Mississippi native, played junior college ball at Meridian Community College before passing on a scholarship from Mississippi State to sign as an eighth-round pick with Colorado in 2010. His potential was readily apparent when he logged a .321/.379/.596 slash line in the minors and hit .299 with 39 home runs over three seasons in Colorado, but the Rockies eventually determined he was more valuable as a trade chip to fortify their pitching.

When general manager Jeff Bridich sent Dickerson and minor league infielder Kevin Padlo to Tampa Bay for reliever Jacob McGee and starter German Marquez, it was almost an afterthought for fans and media members who thought Carlos Gonzalez might be on the block. Now both sides are benefiting. McGee is averaging 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings and Marquez has stepped in nicely to help the Rockies overcome some big pitching injuries. Dickerson, meanwhile, has rebounded nicely from a disappointing first season to become a focal point of the Tampa Bay lineup. Dickerson appeared in only 65 games with the Rockies in 2015 because of plantar fasciitis and a broken rib, and his abridged offseason workout regimen spilled over to 2016. He struggled with the transition to a new league, new pitchers and an unfamiliar clubhouse dynamic before posting an .855 OPS in September to salvage his season. He struck up an instant bond with Mottola, who replaced Derek Shelton as the Rays' hitting coach in early September.

"Your teammates don't know who you are, so you feel like you've got to prove yourself and show why they traded for you,'' Dickerson says. "When I was struggling, I felt like, 'Do these guys want me up here hitting (in this situation)?' In Colorado, if I went through a little struggle, those guys knew what I was capable of, and they had seen me every day for the last couple of

24 years. I know they trusted me and believed in me. I think that was the biggest hurdle for me.

"In the second half, I kind of let it all go. Chad came in and said, 'Hey, I don't want you to change your stance or be afraid to try different stuff. I want you to be you.' That freed my mind up and I took off.''

"If I get 12 bats, I'm going to choose the best one to go up to the plate every single time. It's about quality and the way it feels. This is how I make a living for my family. So why wouldn't I pick the best piece of wood when I go up to plate?"

Corey Dickerson on the art of choosing a bat Dickerson spent the winter making changes to his body to maintain the momentum from his late-season surge. He cut back on pizza, sweets and other guilty pleasures. He read books on fitness and exercise physiology and adopted a new training regimen en route to losing 25 pounds. He did Pilates in Tampa, and worked on his core and lower back with personal trainer Matt Espy. Dickerson even took a spinning class in his hometown of Meridian at the Jeff Anderson Health & Fitness Center, where he churned away to the accompaniment of AC/DC and other classic rock tunes.

"It was mostly girls in the class,'' Dickerson says. Few of them knew or cared that a 2017 batting title contender was sweating buckets in their midst. The left-handed hitter has continued to make subtle changes to his approach, reducing his leg kick and shortening his swing to become less vulnerable against lefties and a bigger threat to do damage with two strikes. He's hit 31 percent of his balls to left field, 37 percent to center and 32 percent to right, a breakdown that makes him difficult to defend. His .388 and .409 mark against breaking balls are testament to his ability to keep his hands back and still catch up to the heat.

His old Rockies teammates see the box scores each day without a trace of surprise over his gaudy stats. "Not at all,'' says shortstop Trevor Story. "He's been one of the more special hitters I've watched. He's one of those guys who seems like he was born to hit.'' Dickerson got plenty of mileage out of that Tucci 271 -- a bat model he used for the entire 2014 season at the suggestion of former Colorado teammate Troy Tulowitzki. Dickerson has since alternated between different Tucci and Marucci models and recently began favoring a Marucci DD10 in the 34-inch, 32-ounce range. Whenever a new shipment arrives, it's like Christmas morning all over again. "I've always loved hitting, since I was really little,'' Dickerson says. "If I get 12 bats, I'm going to

25 choose the best one to go up to the plate every single time. It's about quality and the way it feels. This is how I make a living for my family. So why wouldn't I pick the best piece of wood when I go up to plate?''

Time and almost 3,500 professional plate appearances have drummed home the most enduring lesson in the relationship: It's less about the quality of the bat than the aptitude of the man who's wielding it.

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