Phillies shutout again in San Francisco as problems at the plate become harder to ignore

You cannot win baseball games when you do not score runs. The Phillies were shut out in back-to-back games in San Francisco and lost the series to the Giants. They are now 6-6 on year and will head home after being outscored 11-0 over the final two games at Oracle Park.

Two straight zeros is rough, especially against a Giants offense that came into the series with the lowest OPS in baseball.

Aaron Nola

Aaron Nola gave them another six-inning effort and this loss is not on him. Five hits, one walk, three runs, and a 3.63 ERA through his first three starts. He battled all afternoon without his best stuff and was mostly holding the Giants in check until the sixth inning when he left a fastball over the middle to Rafael Devers.

Rafael Devers 3-run home run off Nola…

Rafael Devers with a 3-run blast to break the scoreless tie in the 6th! pic.twitter.com/kG57XyFd0X

— MLB (@MLB) April 8, 2026

Devers was slashing .196 entering the day and had not done much all series. He made Nola pay with a three-run homer that ended up being the entire ballgame. That is baseball sometimes and pinning this loss on Nola would not be fair.

The bigger issue was what happened on the other side.

The Phillies made Tyler Mahle look good on the mound.

Tyler Mahle came in with a 7.00 ERA so naturally, against the Phillies on Wednesday he looked nothing like a pitcher with a 7.00 ERA.

Five and two thirds innings, three hits, zero runs, six strikeouts. The Phillies had four hits all afternoon and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Most of their baserunners came with two outs. They never got anything going.

This is becoming a pattern and it needs to be said directly. In 100 at-bats with runners in scoring position the Phillies are hitting .200 with a .637 OPS. Those numbers are inflated by the seven-run first inning in Colorado last Friday.

Take that game away and they are significantly worse. The offense has shown fight in certain games but too often it goes completely quiet for stretches that cost them series.

Harper admitted after the game that Tuesday and Wednesday were not good enough and that too many Phillies were chasing pitches below the zone. That is the same issue that showed up in the first week of the season

Bohm is hitting .186 with a .550 OPS. Stott is hitting .167 with a .405 OPS, the fourth-lowest mark among qualified NL hitters. Both had excellent springs and neither has carried it over.

It’s early, obviously, but the Phillies have real things to work through at the plate and they need to figure it out before it becomes a longer conversation.

The Phillies open a nine-game homestand on Friday against the Diamondbacks followed by the Cubs and the Braves. Time to get right at Citizens Bank Park.

Join The Chase