Phillies’ woes out west continue in blowout against former manager Gabe Kapler’s Giants

SAN FRANCISCO — It was only one game, they were sure to say, and of course, they were correct.

But these are the Phillies. And this is September.

So, no, it isn’t that simple.

The manager in the other dugout Friday night, the one whose ballclub put a licking on Phillies starter Kyle Gibson in a 13-1 throttling in the opener of a three-game series by the bay, could attest to that, not that he’d want to.

Gabe Kapler was in charge in September 2018, when the Phillies had an 8-20 meltdown. A year later, they went 12-19 down the stretch, costing Kapler his job. They were 13-17 in September 2020 and 14-16 in the final month of last season, missing the playoffs both years.

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The scars remain from those collapses. Maybe not for newcomers such as Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos, but they must be buried deep within Rhys Hoskins and Aaron Nola, J.T. Realmuto and Jean Segura, even Bryce Harper and bench coach-turned-interim manager Rob Thomson.

And the angst is real for a fan base that wants to believe this year will be different but has watched the Phillies allow 40 runs through four games of this West Coast trip, including three losses.

“It’s a different team, different group of guys, different manager, everything,” Harper said. “We’ve got a long ways to go. We’ve got to keep playing our game, keep doing our thing. Not every night’s going to be like that.”

Just in case, the Phillies have a firewall, with the playoff field having expanded to six teams and the Milwaukee Brewers’ refusal to step forward. They lost again Friday night in Arizona, enabling the Phillies to maintain their 3½-game cushion for the final playoff berth.

But there are reasons for the Phillies to be wary. They didn’t have the pitching depth to survive the last four Septembers. There are signs the staff is thinning out and may be wearing down again.

Zack Wheeler’s timeline for returning from the injured list got pushed back Friday. The innings toll is mounting for Noah Syndergaard and Ranger Suárez, who will start the next two games against the Giants. And the bullpen options are dwindling, with Seranthony Domínguez on the injured list and Corey Knebel lost for the season.

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It was a bad time, then, for Gibson to last only 1⅔ innings, his shortest start since April 21, 2021, with the Texas Rangers and tied for the third-shortest of his 256-start career. Lacking command and a putaway pitch, he gave up four runs in a 40-pitch first inning and a three-run homer to Joc Pederson in the second.

“As a starting pitcher, you know you’re not going to have your best stuff every time, but normally you try to either eat up innings or leave the game when the team still has a chance [to win],” Gibson said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t do either of those, so it’s frustrating.”

Gibson faced 14 batters. He gave up five hits and four walks.

And he gave the Phillies no shot.

It’s been a while — two months, in fact — since Gibson had a clunker. He had a 2.80 ERA in his previous nine starts since giving up back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs in the first inning of a July 2 start against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Gibson and reliever Sam Coonrod threw a total of 103 pitches and combined to record seven outs. Phillies pitchers combined to walk 10 batters, one shy of their season high.

“That’s not the recipe for winning,” Thomson said.

But is an 8.57 team ERA in the last week a cause for concern?

“Normally, when you have big stretches like that, it’s kind of an anomaly,” Gibson said. “Those really aren’t things that last.”

Said Thomson: “I think it’s just a bad week. I really do. Maybe it’s just a little bit of a rut these guys are in right now. But they’ll bounce out of it. They’re too good to continue this, that’s for sure.”

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After missing three games this week in Arizona because of turf toe, Castellanos returned to the lineup in right field.

Castellanos finished 0-for-2 with a strikeout before being replaced by Matt Vierling when the Phillies emptied the bench in the blowout.

Given the lopsided score, both teams put position players on the mound in the late innings. Phillies backup catcher Garrett Stubbs gave up one run in the eighth, while Giants outfielder Luis Gonzalez allowed one in the ninth.

But it also allowed for Donny Sands to make his major league debut.

Sands, a 26-year-old catcher who got called up from triple A on Thursday when rosters expanded to 28 players, pinch-hit for J.T. Realmuto in the seventh inning and remained in the game. He finished 0-for-2 with a strikeout.