Routed in the Philadelphia rain, the SF Giants lose more than just a game

PHILADELPHIA — It’s debatable which was more relentless Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park: the rain or the Phillies’ offense.

Neither stopped for most of the night, and the ominous weather that delayed the first pitch for 70 minutes proved to have prescient qualities.

Adding injury to insult, the Giants lost their second catcher in as many days, their starting pitcher failed to get out of the first inning and no one was smiling about suffering a 14-3 loss under a constant downpour. It ended with a position player, Tyler Fitzgerald, playing rope on the pitcher’s mound.

You could say Keaton Winn had the worst night of all, struggling to grip the baseball, find the strike zone or fool the Phillies hitters. But then again, Winn got cover in the third base dugout after recording just two outs while his defense managed a five-run first inning and a four-run second against Mitch White.

The same could be said of Tom Murphy, who did nothing to hurt his ballclub but got hurt in the process. The backup catcher was forced out of the game in the second inning, leaving Blake Sabol as the only healthy backstop on the active roster after Patrick Bailey left Friday night’s loss with a concussion.

Murphy was being evaluated for a left knee injury after chasing a pitch in the dirt from White, which got away from the catcher and allowed JT Realmuto to race home and score the Phillies’ first of four runs in the second inning .

By the time the Giants came to bat for the third time, everyone was soaked and they were in a nine-run hole.

It was evident from the start that the wet conditions were troublesome for Winn, who allowed walks to the first two batters he faced and hit Phillies cleanup man Alec Bohm. Winn was unable to master either of his two best pitches, the splitter and sinker, and mostly gave in to four-seam fastballs before Bob Melvin came after him.

Winn’s two-thirds inning is the shortest start by a Giants pitcher this season, besides their two games using openers. The Phillies’ 14 runs were the second-most by a Giants opponent this season, trailing only their 17-1 loss to the Diamondbacks last month.

Winn’s stinker also posted a string of strong starts personally — he had allowed three runs in 18 innings in his last three outings — and for the rotation as a whole.

The Giants’ starters had held their opponents to 11 earned runs in their last 11 games, a 1.92 ERA.

The Phillies had nearly reached that total by the end of the second inning.

As the Giants attempted to reduce the deficit, they faced the same challenges that have plagued them all season. They put runners on base but couldn’t get them in. They put six men on base in the second and third innings, but Nick Ahmed, who doubled to start the second, was the only one to cross home plate.

It was no easy task against Ranger Suarez, the National League’s Pitcher of the Month for March and April. The 1.32 ERA the deceptive left-hander took in Saturday night’s start hasn’t budged much through six innings, with the only other damage coming on a two-run homer by Wilmer Flores in the fifth.