PHILADELPHIA — The San Francisco Giants and Phillies tried to salvage Wednesday night’s game, moving the start up 30 minutes, but that, it turned out, was not enough. Half an hour before the newly scheduled time, the whole thing was called off because of inclement weather.
The game was rescheduled as part of a split doubleheader Thursday, at 9:35 a.m. and 2:35 p.m. Pacific. The Giants are likely to keep their rotation the same, with Logan Webb pitching the first game and Adrian Houser the second. The question, then, will be: Who will the Giants use on May 4 in San Diego? Webb is getting an extra day of rest, unwanted, with this schedule change, but he’d be on short rest for the Padres series.
Perhaps a reason that Blade Tidwell was sent down to get stretched out to start, but he has to stay down 10 days unless there is an injury. Manager Tony Vitello did mention before the postponement that Carson Whisenhunt had pitched well for Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday night (six innings, one run.) A bullpen game is also a possibility; the team is unlikely to announce any plans for that spot until next week.
They could, too, opt for a bullpen game Thursday – when the team gets an extra player for the day – in order to prevent such rotation questions next week.
The Phillies had their ace, lefty Cristopher Sánchez, scheduled to start Wednesday; San Francisco earned a 6-0 win at Oracle Park the last time the team saw Sánchez. Right-hander Andrew Painter was scheduled to go Thursday. It’s likely Philadelphia will stick with that order, but neither team has confirmed the matchups.
Both teams will get an extra player Thursday because of the doubleheader. The Giants have not made an announcement but here are two possibilities: starter Carson Seymour is on turn, while Jesus Rodriguez can play every position including catcher.
The Giants dropped game one of the series 7-0 on Tuesday night, so they would need to win both games Thursday to earn their fourth consecutive series victory.
NBC Sports Bay Area and KNBR will adjust their schedules to accommodate the split doubleheader.