SAN FRANCISCO — In the seventh inning Sunday, a fan behind the plate stood and yelled, “Hurry up! We’ve got a Warriors game to watch!” The Giants made sure a raucous crowd kicked off a Bay Area doubleheader with positive vibes.
Dereck Rodriguez won his big league debut, Mark Melancon had a huge return, and the lineup got to Jake Arrieta, one of the National League’s best. The Giants beat the Phillies 6-1, clinching a weekend sweep. When the teams met in Philadelphia last month, the Phillies were the ones to get a sweep.
Here are the details from Round 2…
—- The Giants couldn’t have asked for much more from their rookie starter. Rodriguez worked quickly and pounded the strike zone, allowing just one run in six innings. He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out six. The only one to get to him was Arrieta, who pulled a solo homer in the third.
—- Rodriguez topped out at 94.8 mph with his four-seamer and used it to get four of his six strikeouts. Only two other Giants starters have thrown that hard this season: Jeff Samardzija, who hit 97 even while dealing with an injury, and Tyler Beede, who threw one pitch at 94.9 mph earlier this season.
—- Gorkys Hernandez kicked off a string of four consecutive one-out singles in the sixth. Andrew McCutchen followed that by tucking a homer just inside the pole in right, giving the Giants a four-run lead. The three-run blast was McCutchen’s first homer in 131 at-bats.
—- Mark Melancon made his season debut in the seventh and struck out the side. His cutter was only 89-91, but his curveball was a wipeout pitch and ended all three at-bats.
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--- The Giants were upset when Hector Neris drilled Buster Posey last year. Bruce Bochy called Neris an idiot and Posey said it was on purpose. They squared off in the eighth Sunday and Neris twice went way inside. On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Posey hit a solo homer.
