Phillies Lose a Heartbreaker on Walkoff Inside the Park Home Run Against Giants
Jul 8, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey (14) runs home after hitting a three-run home run off Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Jordan Romano (68) for a walk-off win during the ninth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images
The fallout last night from the Phillies’ loss to the San Francisco Giants has grown since Camilo Doval threw the last pitch last night. Umpire Scorecards had Phil Cuzzi at 91% accuracy with the run differential favor at 1.42 in the favor of the Giants. We all saw it, and Bryce Harper said after the game that, “The umpire took over the game,” and he was right.
With that said, the Phillies had their opportunities, with all three runs the Giants scored last night coming from mediocre defensive plays. Then add in the 0-24 with runners in scoring position from the Phillies over the last two games, and the true state of the team comes out. Did Cuzzi play a role in last night’s loss? Yes. There is data to back it up, but the Phillies need to rise above that if they want to be a serious contender, and not just win in October, but win in the first week of November; they have to win games like last night.
When the game started, the Phils had a one-game lead on the New York Mets, who would eventually beat the Baltimore Orioles in comeback fashion, putting more pressure on the Phils to win the game against one of the best pitchers in the National League, Robbie Ray. The offense is making better at-bats, and starting to have better at-bats, but again, the closer couldn’t close it out and allowed a walkoff by the inside-the-park home run to lose 4-3.
The game was the same as it had been; Ray and Taijuan Walker both pitched well. Walker was spotting his fastball better than in his previous starts and keeping the Giants hitters off balance. San Francisco scored a run in the second from a Dominic Smith single, scoring Mike Yastrzemski, and it was 1-0, looking like last night.
The Phils had opportunities with runners in scoring position and again came up short until the 6th with Alec Bohm on second, Otto Kemp delivered what feels like the biggest hit in a week. He shot a single through the infield, scoring Bohm, tying the game at 1.
That was all for Ray, going 5 2/3 innings. Spencer Bivens came in to get the last out of the inning. In the 7th, Bivens got into trouble early when Brandon Marsh pinch hit and hit a single that was misplayed by Heloit Ramos in left, but that wouldn’t matter because 2 batters later Kyle Schwarber got another hit with a runner in scoring position, just this time it was a towering home run into McCovey cove in right.
He didn’t even get all of it, but he’s strong enough that it doesn’t matter. He joins the club of visiting players to hit a “Splash Hit”, where a home run reaches the bay on the fly.
Another thing that was refreshing was that the Phillies’ bullpen came in and locked down the Giants. This was critical since Walker only went 4 innings. Tanner Banks, Max Lazar, and Matt Strahm all pitched very well. Daniel Robert made the 8th interesting, but Jordan Romano closed that inning out without giving up a hit when the Giants had runners in scoring position.
All was looking well until Romano came back out for the 9th and just didn’t seem as crisp as in the 8th. Casey Schmitt doubled, Wilmer Flores hit a single, and Patrick Bailey, who hasn’t been hitting well lately, hit a long shot which hit off the bricks in triples alley on a fastball that Romano hung, allowing Bailey to cross the plate as the game-winning run.
It’s the first time the Phillies have lost on a walk-off, inside-the-park homer since Brooklyn’s Pete Reiser did it on May 11, 1946. Bailey is the first catcher to hit an inside-the-park walk-off home run since Bennie Tate on August 11, 1926.
This was one of the most heartbreaking ways to lose a game and a series. The Phils will be happy to get on the plane and get out of San Francisco.
In this game, Nick Castellanos also collected his 1,700th career base hit.
Tomorrow, Justin Verlander will be on the mound for the Giants, searching for his first win as a Giant, taking on Jesus Luzardo in a matchup of two pitchers looking to regain their form from the past. Tomorrow, the Phils have to win in a place that has been so difficult for them since 2018 to keep from getting swept.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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