By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Behind Vince Velasquez, the Philadelphia Phillies (31-24) will look to even the series against rookie southpaw Andrew Suarez and the San Francisco Giants (27-30) Saturday evening at AT&T Park.
The Phillies were shut out for just the second time this season — joining April 3 against the New York Mets — in Friday's series opener, 4-0. Starter Nick Pivetta yielded three runs through four frames, while Mark Leiter Jr. followed by tossing two scoreless frames in his season debut. On offense, the Phillies collected just six hits, two of which were singles by shortstop Scott Kingery. Dylan Cozens made his major league debut in right batting eighth, and singled in his first career plate appearance and pitch seen opposite Giants starter Chris Stratton.
The Phillies have won six of their eight (.750) Saturday games so far this season, their best winning percentage of all days of the week. In addition, under Gabe Kapler, the Phillies are 7-5 against National League West teams and are 24-19 against all other opponents.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Philadelphia Phillies (31-24) | San Francisco Giants (27-30) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Vince Velasquez | LHP | Andrew Suarez | ||
| (4-5, 4.08 ERA) | (1-4, 5.65 ERA) | ||||
RHP Vince Velasquez, Age: 25
- Career vs. SFG: 1-0, 4.09 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 11 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 HR, 4 BB, 18 SO, 1.091 WHIP
- Career at AT&T Park: N/A
Velasquez finished May going 3-1 with a 2.30 ERA in 27 1/3 innings, besting his March/April 1-4, 5.70 ERA-start to the season through 30 frames. Assuming the Phillies rebound from their scoreless series opener, the right-hander has performed well in 2018 when receiving at least three supporting runs, going 4-2 with a 3.18 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings.
LHP Andrew Suarez, Age: 25
- Career vs. PHI: N/A
- Career at AT&T Park: 0-2, 4.91 ERA, 3 G, 3 GS, 18 1/3 IP, 16 H, 11 R, 10 ER, 4 HR, 2 BB, 17 SO, 0.982 WHIP
Suarez will make his eighth career start and his first against the Phillies. Just one of the southpaw's appearances resulted in a quality start — his second career outing on May 1. Opposing batters are slashing .379/.400/.828 against Suarez with runners in scoring position, with 11 hits and 19 runs scored in 31 plate appearances.
Starting Lineups:
| Philadelphia Phillies (31-24) | San Francisco Giants (27-30) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S | 1 | 2B | Joe Panik | L |
| 2 | SS | Scott Kingery | R | 2 | SS | Brandon Crawford | L |
| 3 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L | 3 | RF | Andrew McCutchen | R |
| 4 | RF | Aaron Altherr | R | 4 | 3B | Evan Longoria | R |
| 5 | 1B | Carlos Santana | S | 5 | 1B | Pablo Sandoval | S |
| 6 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R | 6 | LF | Mac Williamson | R |
| 7 | LF | Nick Williams | L | 7 | CF | Gorkys Hernandez | R |
| 8 | C | Jorge Alfaro | R | 8 | C | Nick Hundley | R |
| 9 | P | Vince Velasquez | R | 9 | P | Andrew Suarez | L |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 10:05 p.m.
- TV: NBCSP+, MLBN
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
- Giants second baseman Joe Panik (torn thumb UCL) returned from the disabled list on Friday and went 2-3 with two walks. First baseman Brandon Belt, meanwhile, was rushed to the hospital with possible appendicitis, according to The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly.
- The Phillies' series opener loss snapped their six-game win streak against the Giants. Regardless, the Phillies will finish with three straight non-losing season series opposite Bruce Bochy's club, having won four of the first five meetings thus far in 2018.
- Second baseman Cesar Hernandez has hit safely in five straight games, slashing .333/.478/.556 with three runs scored, four singles, one double, one home run, five walks and four RBI spanning 23 plate appearances.
What's Next:
Sunday, June 3, 2018: at San Francisco Giants, 4:05 p.m.
- AT&T Park, San Francisco, Calif.
- RHP Jake Arrieta (5-2, 2.16 ERA) vs. RHP Dereck Rodriguez (0-0, 2.70 ERA)
- TV: NBCSP; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
