Giants suffer nightmare last experienced in 1956

The San Francisco Giants went through a brutal Thursday, suffering back-to-back walk-off defeats in a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies, a scenario the franchise had not experienced since July 15, 1956, against the Cincinnati Redlegs.

The day began with a 3-2 loss in Game 1, where Ryan Walker was charged with his second blown save of the season after allowing a game-tying triple to Bryson Stott, who saw nine consecutive sinkers before coming through. Things didn’t get any better in Game 2, as San Francisco let another ninth-inning lead slip and fell 6-5 in extra innings, which completed a three-game sweep.

Overall, the Giants were outscored 16-7 in the series, including a 7-0 shutout loss on Tuesday. Entering the series, Philadelphia had lost 11 of its previous 12 games and had recently dismissed manager Rob Thomson, making the sweep more damaging for San Francisco, which now sits at 13-18.

In the second game, Adrian Houser was hit hard once more, allowing two solo home runs in the first inning, one on the first pitch by Trea Turner and another by Kyle Schwarber, whose 446-foot blast gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead. Houser gave up two runs over 4 2/3 innings and now owns a 7.12 ERA through six starts.

Despite multiple comeback efforts, including a game-tying two-run single from Luis Arraez in the sixth inning and a go-ahead hit by Jung Hoo Lee in the ninth, the Giants could not close. Keaton Winn allowed a leadoff double to Brandon Marsh and later surrendered a game-tying hit to Schwarber, who recorded four hits in the game.

San Francisco also missed a golden scoring chance in the 10th inning when third-base coach Hector Borg held automatic runner Drew Gilbert at third despite a deflected single by Heliot Ramos. The decision ended up hurting them as the Giants stranded the runner, with Matt Chapman striking out for the eighth time in his last 13 at-bats and Arraez lining out.

In the bottom half, Stott executed a bunt to advance the runner, and Alec Bohm hit the walk-off sacrifice fly off Matt Gage.

Up next, the Giants open a three-game road series against the Tampa Bay Rays (18-12) on Friday, with Robbie Ray (2-3, 2.70 ERA) scheduled to start against Shane McClanahan (2-2, 3.91 ERA).