By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Looking to sweep the San Francisco Giants (19-18) for the first time since May 5-7, 2006, the Philadelphia Phillies (21-15) will send RHP Vince Velasquez to the mound opposite southpaw Ty Blach in Thursday's matinee series finale at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies have outscored the Giants 26-5 through the first three games of the series, including Wednesday evening's 11-3 win behind a five-RBI performance via Carlos Santana. Starter Nick Pivetta tossed five shutout innings with seven strikeouts, while Seranthony Dominguez recorded another 1-2-3 inning in relief. Maikel Franco also went yard in the win, his club-leading seventh home run.
Manager Gabe Kapler's club enters Thursday's finale just a 1/2 game behind the Atlanta Braves for the division lead. The game will be the third Facebook-exclusive broadcast for the Phillies thus far in 2018.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| San Francisco Giants (19-18) | Philadelphia Phillies (21-15) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LHP | Ty Blach | RHP | Vince Velasquez | ||
| (3-3, 3.60 ERA) | (2-4, 5.14 ERA) | ||||
LHP Ty Blach, Age: 27
- Career vs. PHI: 1-1, 3.77 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 14 1/3 IP, 15 H, 6 R, 6 ER, HR, 2 BB, 7 SO, 1.186 WHIP
- Career at Citizens Bank Park: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 9 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 0.778 WHIP
Through 34 career starts, the southpaw's only career complete game and shutout came against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on June 2, 2017. The Giants routed the Phillies 10-0 in the contest, as Blach surrendered just seven hits and no walks on 112 pitches and 77 strikes.
RHP Vince Velasquez, Age: 25
- Career vs. SFG: 0-0, 3.60 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 HR, 3 BB, 6 SO, 1.200 WHIP
- Career at Citizens Bank Park: 6-10, 4.40 ERA, 23 G, 23 GS, 118 2/3 IP, 108 H, 62 R, 58 ER, 25 HR, 42 BB, 144 SO, 1.264 WHIP
Velasquez has a 6.75 ERA at home this season (11 earned runs in 14 2/3 innings), as opposed to a 3.98 ERA on the road (nine earned runs in 20 1/3 innings). The right-hander is coming off of a win in his most recent start, May 5 against the Washington Nationals. In the outing, Velasquez allowed just one run, one hit and four walks through five frames and 92 pitches (59 strikes).
Starting Lineups:
| San Francisco Giants (19-18) | Philadelphia Phillies (21-15) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | RF | Gregor Blanco | L | 1 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 2 | SS | Brandon Crawford | L | 2 | RF | Aaron Altherr | R |
| 3 | 3B | Evan Longoria | R | 3 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 4 | LF | Brandon Belt | L | 4 | LF | Rhys Hoskins | R |
| 5 | C | Nick Hundley | R | 5 | 1B | Carlos Santana | S |
| 6 | 1B | Pablo Sandoval | S | 6 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 7 | 2B | Alen Hanson | S | 7 | SS | Scott Kingery | R |
| 8 | CF | Gorkys Hernandez | R | 8 | C | Jorge Alfaro | R |
| 9 | P | Ty Blach | R | 9 | P | Vince Velasquez | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 1:05 p.m.
- TV: Facebook Watch
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
- The Phillies have won five straight games against the Giants since August 19, 2017, leading the way in runs (43-16), hits (56-45) and errors (2-8).
- Active Phillies hit streaks:
- Maikel Franco, 7: 29 AB, 5 R, 12 H, 3 HR, 6 RBI, BB, K, .414/.433/.828
- Carlos Santana, 6: 26 AB, 5 R, 9 H, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 0 BB, 3 K, .346/.346/.885
- Santana's average has risen from .151 to .189 (+38) over this hit streak
- Active members of the Giants are slashing a combined .176/.176/.176 through 17 at-bats against Velasquez, with just three singles, two RBI and five strikeouts.
Odubel Herrera walks in the first inning, extending his on-base streak to 38 games. Tied with Jimmy Rollins (2005-06) for the longest #Phillies streak since Bobby Abreu had a 48-game streak in 2000-01.
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) May 9, 2018
What's Next:
- Friday, May 11, 2018: vs. New York Mets, 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pa.
- LHP Steven Matz (1-3, 4.23 ERA) vs. RHP Jake Arrieta (3-1, 3.15 ERA)
- TV: NBCSP; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
