SF Giants: LaMonte Wade Jr., Jason Vosler lead way to 5-3 victory

In the offseason, the SF Giants made a pair of under-the-radar moves by signing Jason Vosler to a major league deal and trading for LaMonte Wade Jr. On Friday night, those moves appeared to pay off handsomely as both played key roles in a 5-3 victory against the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies are sputtering in place after losing two of three against the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier in the week and dropping the first game of the series against the Giants. They are 33-34, but they remain in second place in the National League East.

SF Giants: LaMonte Wade Jr., Jason Vosler lead way to 5-3 victory

Johnny Cueto started the game but quickly dug himself into a hole after yielding a solo home run to the first batter of the game. Despite this, the Giants are playing good baseball and are comfortable playing from behind.

Brandon Crawford led off the second inning with a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch by Vince Velasquez. Steven Duggar worked a walk and stole second base, setting the stage for the Giants to put up a crooked number.

Vosler laced a single to right that scored Crawford and Wade followed with a double to the right side that scored Duggar and moved Vosler over to third base. Vosler would eventually score on a passed ball to give the Giants an early 3-1 advantage.

The Phillies tied it at three in the top of the fourth as Andrew McCutchen blasted a two-run homer to center field. McCutchen, of course, is no stranger to Oracle Park after spending the majority of the 2018 season in the Orange and Black.

The game did not remain tied for long as Cueto stepped to the plate in the bottom of the fourth and worked a five-pitch walk. Cueto got his cardio in as he scored from first when Wade blasted a triple to right-center field. The center fielder nearly made a spectacular play, but he was oddly shifted away from the pull side prior to the pitch.

The Giants added an insurance run with a solo home run from Brandon Belt to give them a two-run advantage and they did not look back.

On the pitching side, Cueto gave the Giants a quality start, allowing three runs through six innings. The bullpen closed out the final three innings in a very boring fashion, which is what you want from a bullpen. It would be remiss of me not to mention that Wade also showed off his arm in left field in the sixth inning by throwing out Bryce Harper, who was trying to stretch a single into a double.

The Giants took the first game of the series against the Phillies, notching their 45th win of the season, and continue to boast the best record in baseball. In the middle of June, the Giants nabbed a game thanks in part to the contributions from a pair of players who were quietly added to the roster in the winter.