SAN FRANCISCO — To snap their skid, the Giants leaned on a rookie and a vet.
Robbie Ray delivered his first quality start of the season as San Francisco (4-8) snapped a four-game losing streak with a 6-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night at Oracle Park, pitching 6 2/3 scoreless innings (109 pitches) with seven strikeouts to three strikeouts.
Rookie catcher Daniel Susac followed up his memorable first start last Thursday with another great offensive game, going 3-for-4 with two singles and a two-run triple to record the first RBIs of his career.
With back-to-back singles in his first two at-bats, Susac became the first major leaguer to have a hit in his first five at-bats since 1977, when Ted Cox collected hits in his first six career at-bats.
With the Giants leading 4-0 going into the seventh, manager Tony Vitello gave Ray an opportunity to complete seven innings despite being at 90 pitches. Vitello stuck with Ray after he walked the first batter he faced, and the left-hander responded by retiring his next two batters.
Following another walk, which put two on with two outs, Vitello pulled Ray and rolled with the right-hander Ryan Walker. Despite a wild pitch that put runners on second and third, Walker got rookie Justin Crawford to hit into an inning-ending groundout.
Vitello sent Walker out for the eighth inning, and the crossfiring righty added an aura of anxiety when he allowed a leadoff single to Trea Turner and walked Bryce Harper. With two on and one out, Walker retired his next two batters and escaped from the mess he created.
Left-hander Erik Miller was originally warming up to pitch the ninth inning, but right-hander Keaton Winn finished out the game after Susac’s two-run triple in the bottom of the eighth.
