San Francisco – Logan Webb has pitched through five big league seasons in his career, but he’s never pitched past the eighth inning.
The Giants 1-0 win over the Rockies was needed heading into the All-Star break. So it’s only fitting that Webb pitched a shutout game to add to his list of accomplishments; his first complete game and his first complete game shutout win. Earlier this season he signed a big five-year, $90 million contract extension, and Webb proved he was worth it.
“This is an entertaining game,” San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler said. “Logan did just that today, he entertained everybody with a fantastic performance.”
Webb’s first-career complete game shutout, along with a key home run to left field by J.D. Davis in the fourth inning. Webb not only pitched a masterpiece of a game, but he did so in just one-hour, 56 minutes.
“I can’t put it into words right now, I’m so excited that I was able to do that,” said Webb.
Not only did they clinch the weekend-long series against Colorado, the win also gave the Giants their first series win since last month. This win gave them the positive note they needed to end the first half of the season.
Webb had what might’ve been his best outing of the season and potentially of his young career so far. He allowed seven hits with 10 strikeouts and just two extra-base hits – a double in the third inning to Brenton Doyle, and a double to left by Harold Castro with one out in the eighth.
Kapler mentioned that he had All-Star-bound closer Camilo Doval warming up in the bullpen for the ninth inning in a one-run game, but Webb earned the chance to take the mound in the ninth.
“It speaks to his durability and why he is among the league leaders in innings pitched and why his teammates have so much faith in him,” Kapler said. “He earned the opportunity, he got a full house on their feet wanting to see him come out for the ninth, but you also have arguably the game’s best closer out there so you should make the decision who’s the best person to get the next three hitters out, but at the same time, you really want to reward Logan for his performance up to that point.”
Webb went on to strike out the heart of Colorado’s lineup to end the game.
His 10 strikeouts on today is the seventh time he’s reached double-digit strikeouts in a game in his career and the first time he’s done so in back-to-back starts. Including Sunday’s performance, he’s thrown 10-or-more strikeouts in four starts this season, most times he’s done so in a season in his career.
“That was probably the best I’ve seen (from Logan) so far,” said rookie catcher Patrick Bailey said. “His slider was dialed and sinker execution was as good as it gets. You couldn’t really ask for much more.”
Bailey added that he knew that Webb was going to be on top of his game after the first two innings.
“I think probably after the first or second inning, I looked at the changeup numbers and see that he’s getting the depth he usually gets and it’s like ‘alright, he’s got his stuff.’”
Sunday was the first time this season that Webb pitched through eight innings. He came close back in May, tossing 7 ⅔ innings in the Giants 4-2 win at the Houston Astros on May 3. He leads the Majors in innings pitched (126.0) and his 127 strikeouts places him fifth in the National League in that category. The shutout dropped his ERA to 3.14, putting him in seventh in the National League in that category as well.
As sharp as Webb was on the mound, San Francisco was just as sharp defensively from the very start. Jurickson Profar lined a pitch down the first base line to leadoff the game, however he was thrown out at second by Mike Yastrzemski as he was trying to stretch the hit into a double.
The Giants infield also turned a key pair of inning-ending double plays in the sixth and seventh inning with the Rockies looking to threaten to tie or take the lead. Davis’s home run in the fourth, his 11th of the season, was his hardest hit homer of the season with a 109.1 MPH exit velocity and his second hardest-hit homer of the season after his 111.3 MPH single against the Royals back on April 8.
At 49-41 San Francisco still finds themselves on the outside looking in when it comes to the postseason picture but have some sense of momentum entering the break.
“It’s always nice to win the last game before the break and always nice to win the last series before the break,” said Kapler. “The guys are going to go rest and recover and come back strong for the second half.”
The Giants open the second half of the season on an East coast road trip starting at the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday, July 14.
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