It's been one step forward and two steps back for the Giants in April

Following a dominating defeat at the hands of Philadelphia, the San Francisco Giants are reaching the end of a terrible opening month in 2026

Apr 15, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Tyler Mahle throws against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Great American Ball Park. Players and coaches will wear No. 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day around the league. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

Much like the Giants, the Philadelphia Phillies have had a bumpy go of it in April, having already fired manager Rob Thomson two days ago and installing Don Mattingly as the club's interim manager. He debuted on Tuesday with a 7-0 dismantling of San Francisco, despite the Golden Gate Nine sending normally reliable righthander Tyler Mahle to the hill.

Mahle (5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) started solid, but fell apart at the mid-way point in the game, finally giving way to the stacked Philadelphia lineup. Brandon Marsh had a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, and the Phillies plated four more runs in the sixth. Bryce Harper and Adolis Garcia both hit an RBI double, and Trea Turner notched four hits in a contest that saw

The Phils (now 10-19) sit at the bottom of the NL East, and there's plenty of gloom and doom in their clubhouse, as well, as their current skipper explained when discussing Thomson's termination.

“I think if you’re realistic and you look in the mirror,” Mattingly said, “you know you haven’t performed. And I think whatever the situation with the manager, when this happens, I don’t know if you feel guilt, but you know you haven’t performed. "

"Especially if you’re a team that I think you know you can perform. If you’re a team that’s not that caliber, then it may be different. But I think if you truly look in the mirror at this club, we know we haven't performed to what we're capable of to this point.”

The Giants are treading water

Apr 25, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello (23) talks to media members before the game against the Miami Marlins at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

For the last couple of weeks, the signs have been there for the Giants to potentially go on some sort of comeback run. Their recent series against the World Series champion Dodgers saw San Fran take two out of three and display some masterful starting pitching. Unfortunately, it's been back to their back-and-forth ways. The talent is there; things just haven't clicked yet in 2026.

The San Francisco hitters continue to struggle at the plate and couldn't solve Philadelphia starter Jesús Luzardo. The lefty struck out eight Giants, throwing seven innings in 2026. The Giants, as a team, struck out 12 total times in the contest.

“I’m a coach,” manager Tony Vitello said. “I’d love to be angry at our guys and say they needed to have a better approach. Obviously, we could’ve done things better, but you can’t take away from the way Luzardo was throwing the ball. He made it difficult to get your best [batting practice] swing off in the game.”

The Giants (13-16, 4th in NL West) will meet with the Phillies in the City of Brotherly Love for two more games in this three-game set, with Thursday's first pitch coming at 3:40 PM Pacific Time. Righthander Logan Webb (2-3,4.86 ERA, 32 strikeouts) will take the mound for San Francisco; he will be opposed by Philadelphia southpaw Christopher Sanchez, who is 2-2 with a 2.94 ERA in 2026.