Gonzalez struggles as Phillies fall to Giants

The baseball whizzed across the plate, and Cody Asche watched it pass. The Phillies' improbable comeback attempt was over. A 7-5 loss to San Francisco at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday was final.

It was hard to believe that the Phillies had the tying run at bat after digging themselves into an early six-run hole. The Phillies twice cut that deficit to two. And both times, they never got closer.

Asche represented the tying run in the ninth after Chase Utley reached on a pinch-hit walk. Ryan Howard was on deck as a pinch-hitter, but San Francisco had lefthander Javier Lopez warming up in case Howard stepped in. The loss dropped the Phillies (21-36) to a season-low 15 games under .500.

"Our young players have an opportunity now to see, number one, if they are players to go forward with, and also to see what they can do on a daily basis," manager Ryne Sandberg said.

Giants starter Madison Bumgarner mastered the Phillies outside of a pair of homers. The lefthander pitched eight innings, allowed five runs, struck out 11, and walked none. He threw just 98 pitches, 78 of which were strikes. The five runs came on a grand slam by Jeff Francoeur and a pinch-hit homer by Andres Blanco. It was Blanco's first homer of the season.

The Phillies quickly loaded the bases in the fourth. Ben Revere and Maikel Franco singled, and Cesar Hernandez was hit by a pitch. Francoeur had popped up on a fastball in his first-at bat. Bumgarner threw him the same pitch when he came to bat with the bases loaded, and Francoeur crushed it 372 feet to left field for the second grand slam of his career.

"Heater in," Francoeur said. "I tried to get ready a little quicker and stayed a little taller. I was kind of diving out at the plate. It was a good pitch to go on, and it came at a good time for us. We scored five runs off him. That's tough to do."

Phillies starter Severino Gonzalez struggled in his first start in 12 days. The righthander allowed six runs on seven hits in 22/3 innings. He struck out five and walked one. Gonzalez was hit in his throwing hand on a line drive in the first, but he stayed in the game. It was his second start this season in which he allowed six runs and lasted less than three innings.

Dustin McGowan came on in relief in the third with the bases loaded and two outs. He gave up a two-run single before retiring the side. He was solid the rest of the way, pitching three more innings without allowing a run.

The righthander gave the rest of the bullpen a break after Gonzalez's rough start. McGowan threw 49 pitches, his most as a reliever since 2011. The pitcher told Sandberg that he thought he got better as the game went on.

"We all like to pick each other up and take our turns," McGowan said. "That's what a bullpen is for. Pick up the starters, pick up the team, pick each other up."

Bumgarner was finally lifted after eight innings. Closer Santiago Casilla, even though he's been dependable, was a welcome respite. Utley's one-out walk appeared to be the trigger of a rally. But the next two batters struck out looking, and another loss - in a season full of them - was sealed.

@matt_breen