After benches clear, all fireworks work in Phillies’ favor to stave off SF Giants’ sweep

SAN FRANCISCO — Exactly seven years since Hunter Strickland and Bryce Harper threw haymakers on Oracle Park’s infield grass, history nearly repeated itself Wednesday afternoon when another Giants pitcher, Kyle Harrison, attempted to throw inside to the Phillies’ hotheaded slugger.

Harrison brushed Harper back with consecutive fastballs during his at-bat in the fourth inning, and Harper responded to the second by calling time, locking eyes with the starting pitcher and chirping at him. One thing led to the next, and the full complement of pitchers, position players and coaches from both sides piled onto the infield.

Some words, though no punches, were exchanged.

Unfortunately for the home team, the benches-clearing fracas amounted to the least of the fireworks with Harrison on the mound.

Tagging the 22-year-old left-hander for four runs on 12 hits, the Phillies handed the Giants a 6-1 loss and prevented them from completing their second series sweep of the season. It was the Giants’ first loss in the last nine starts behind Harrison and the Phillies’ first win at Oracle Park since June 2021 — 10 meetings ago.

After being held scoreless for nine innings only to win on a walkoff sacrifice fly Tuesday night, the Giants were kept out of the run column for eight innings by a combination of Phillies starter Christopher Sánchez and a trio of relievers, who limited them to six hits and faced the minimum from the start of the fifth inning until Wilmer Flores doubled with one out in the ninth and came around to score on a bloop into right field from Heliot Ramos.

Harrison required a career-high 102 pitches to complete five innings, and the 12 hits he surrendered were also the most of his career. Since 2017, only one Giants starter had allowed as many hits in one game (Jakob Junis, at Colorado, Sept. 19, 2022).

Two big swings accounted for most of the damage, with Kyle Schwarber taking a two-strike fastball the other way and depositing it into the left-field bleachers for a leadoff home run and Nick Castellanos sneaking a two-run shot just over the glove of a leaping Ramos in left field to extend the Phillies’ advantage to 4-0 in the fifth inning.

Harrison also served up a pair of home runs in his most recent start at Citi Field, but prior to that had kept his opponents in the park for six straight outings.

Finishing a triple away from the cycle, Castellanos caused the most trouble for Harrison and the Giants’ pitching staff while scoring two runs and driving in a pair. He went outside the strike zone to single for his first hit of the game in the second inning and came around to score after Harrison was called for a balk and allowed a two-out single to the No. 9 hitter, Christian Pache.

None of the dozen hits allowed by Harrison came in his three meetings with Harper, who only recorded his first hit of the series in the eighth inning to extend the Phillies’ lead to 6-0. After torching the Giants for a pair of homers, five RBIs and six runs scored over four games when the met earlier this month in Philadelphia, Harper went 1-for-10 and contributed only one run this series.

When he stepped to the plate for a third time with two down in the fourth inning, Harper had already struck out twice on a pair of Harrison heaters and taken out his frustration by slamming his bat in the dugout.

Unlike Strickland seven years ago, none of Harrison’s pitches made contact with Harper nor were thrown with the intent to do so. The former was determined by video review, which overturned an initial hit-by-pitch ruling on Harrison’s second inside fastball into a foul ball, while the latter could only be gleaned by the pair of low-and-away off-speed pitches Harrison used to finish the at-bat, coaxing a groundout to short, once the field was cleared.

Some peacekeeping credit goes to Giants third base coach Matt Williams, who managed Harper in Washington for two seasons and was in the middle of the action helping cooler heads prevail this time. When tempers last flared, Michael Morse suffered a concussion and never played another major-league game.