Bryce Harper, Phillies offense unable to deliver in 4-3 loss to Giants

SAN FRANCISCO — Looking for someone to blame for the Phillies’ offense coming up small once again Tuesday night?

Bryce Harper’s hand is raised.

Harper grounded into a rally-killing double play in the first inning and struck out with the go-ahead run on third base in the fourth, emblematic of a 4-3 loss to the Giants in which the Phillies went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 12 on base.

“Pretty embarrassing on my part,” Harper said.

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But he’s hardly alone. And the problem isn’t isolated to one windy, misty night on San Francisco Bay.

The Phillies are 1-for-33 with runners in scoring position over the last three games — all losses, not coincidentally. And entering the game, they were fourth in the National League in hits (368) but 10th in runs (176, or 4.29 per game), an indication that they have considerably less trouble putting runners on base than they do knocking them in.

With every squandered opportunity, the message from manager Rob Thomson and hitting coach Kevin Long is clear: Stay within your approach; don’t press.

And then, the Phillies strand eight runners through four innings against Giants starter Alex Cobb.

“We had six walks tonight, 10 hits. Sixteen baserunners should equate to six, seven runs in a normal night,” Thomson said. “We talk about it, but we don’t harp on it. Because that can make it worse. Just got to keep grinding.”

Cobb came into the game having walked eight batters in 47 innings all season. The Phillies drew five walks in four innings against him. But Bryson Stott flew out with the bases loaded to end the second inning, and Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto struck out with runners on in the third.

By the time Stott broke through with a one-out RBI single in the fourth, the Phillies’ drought with runners in scoring position had reached 0-for-28, their longest spell since an 0-for-34 funk from July 28-31, 2009.

If you’re into omens, the 2009 team led the league in runs — and won the pennant.

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“The tide will turn,” Thomson said. “It always does.”

But after the Phillies scored the tying run in the fourth inning on Cobb’s balk, Harper was unable to deliver the go-ahead run from third base. He missed the first two pitches against lefty reliever Taylor Rogers, then waved at a sweeper for strike three.

“Bad at-bat against Rogers right there,” Harper said. “Didn’t get a pitch up like I wanted to and swung at four balls, probably, out of the zone.

“I’ve just got to be better, plain and simple. Myself, you guys know, I expect me to be great in each situation, each spot. I just need to be better. That can’t happen. In those spots, I need to be myself and go out there and do the job. I didn’t do that.”

In the span of four batters in the fourth inning, Zack Wheeler gave up two runs on an infield single, a wind-blown pop-up that went for a two-out RBI double, and Realmuto whiffed on a tag on a play at the plate that was challenged and upheld.

And that’s how the Giants took the lead.

“[Wheeler] pitched better than his line, for sure,” Thomson said.

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Indeed, the Giants scored twice in the third inning on four singles, including RBI hits by Thairo Estrada and Michael Conforto. The costly blow in the fourth was Joey Bart’s pop-up. First baseman Kody Clemens tracked it into foul territory, but the wind blew it back into fair ground.

“That pop fly, I lost it for a second and then I saw it again,” said Wheeler. “It was a tough sky. It was a tough play. Those type of things are going to happen.”

Said Thomson: “I’m watching the ball the entire time, and I lost it.”

Wheeler completed six innings for the fourth time in five starts. He has a 3.56 ERA during that stretch and a 4.06 mark overall.

Wheeler wasn’t helped by center fielder Brandon Marsh, either.

Marsh overthrew the cutoff man on LaMonte Wade Jr.’s single in the third inning. Wade took second base and scored from third three batters later on Conforto’s single. It’s possible Wade may have scored anyway, even if Marsh had held him at first base.

The Giants continued their mastery of the Phillies under manager Gabe Kapler, especially at Oracle Park.

The Phillies have dropped six consecutive games here dating to 2021 by a combined margin of 44-16. Since Kapler got fired by the Phillies and hired by the Giants, San Francisco has won 11 of 14 games between the teams.