PHILADELPHIA — Giants pitching coach Andrew Bailey, effervescent as always, walked up to Logan Webb in the clubhouse Monday afternoon and proclaimed, “It’s a beautiful day out there.”
He was right. The air was warm — 89 degrees at first pitch — but not soupy. In a bandbox like Citizens Bank Park, that meant the ball should be flying. Webb was at his very best, limiting the Phillies to four hits and pitching into the ninth inning for the first time of his career — the first time in 52 starts he’d allowed more than one — but three of those hits were solo home runs, nearly spoiling what was otherwise a beaut of a pitching performance from San Francisco’s ace.
His catcher, Curt Casali, wouldn’t allow it. After Kyle Schwarber tied the game with his own home run off Webb in the ninth, preventing him from finishing the first complete game of his career, Casali jacked such a no-doubter to left field that Schwarber just turned and watched as it flew a dozen rows deep into the blue seats. At home plate, Casali watched it, too, striking a pose and dropping his bat before rounding the bases for the decisive run in a 5-4 win.
“I didn’t care who did it, honestly. You want to win every game, but I wanted to win that game so bad,” said Casali, who had his parents, Cathy and Lou, in the stands. “Just what (Webb) did and being able to come out for the ninth and have that heartbreak ending to his day. Man, he pitched well today. That’s vintage Logan Webb. He had everything going.”
A combined six home runs accounted for eight of the game’s nine runs, figures that belie the pitcher’s duel that took place for most of the contest.
The Giants needed every bit of Webb’s brilliance and just a little more as the only offense they were able to mount against his counterpart, Kyle Gibson, came on a two-run blast from Wilmer Flores in the sixth inning. Once into the Phillies bullpen, Evan Longoria sent a 1-0 fastball from Corey Knebel over the left-field wall in the top of the ninth that gave them a 3-2 lead and Webb a shot at finishing the first complete game of his career.
After the eighth inning, Kapler came over to shake Webb’s hand and tell him his day was over. After Longoria’s home run — and some petitioning from the starter — Kapler looked at Webb and gave him a head nod. He was going back out for the ninth.
Schwarber’s swing on a low slider ended those hopes, tying the game at 3 in the bottom of the ninth, and brought manager Gabe Kapler to the mound to take the ball from his starter.
“It felt like my game,” Webb said. “I had thrown the first eight. We were up, and I wanted to win. It sucks I couldn’t finish it.”
The trio of home runs were the only blips on an otherwise exceptional outing from Webb, who has appeared to find himself again after spending the past month in the wilderness, wondering why he wasn’t able to miss bats.
Webb had command and bite on all three of his pitches, and used his every piece of his menagerie to record his season-best strikeout total, which also matched a career-high. Seven came via a changeup that dropped like a lead balloon, which he used to generate nine of the 15 swings and misses from Phillies hitters. After only regaining confidence in his full repertoire over his past couple starts, Webb displayed his best stuff of the season Monday.
“I know he’s been pretty frustrated not getting swings and misses, as have I, but it just seemed like one of those days where if they hit it on the ground, it went to somebody,” Casali said. “He was locating his sinker, which has been a little bit of a problem lately. Just some absolute depth on his changeup. We knew we were going to throw a lot of changeups today. For the most part, the game plan worked.”
Webb made 100 pitches, and just about all but three of them were excellent.
The only pitch Webb regrets was the misplaced slider to Castellanos, which he put in the left-field seats to start the second inning. Hoskins turned on a middle-middle sinker in the fourth. Webb’s 100th and final pitch, arguably, was well executed, too. Schwarber simply went and got it — and smoked it just over the glove of a leaping Stuart Fairchild at the center field wall. Webb had put Schwarber in an 0-1 hole, then gave him a slider at his knees.
“Two of them I thought were OK pitches,” Webb said. “It was just the Castellanos one that really pissed me off.”
Besides that, Webb was masterful. A single from Schwarber was the only other hit he allowed, while not issuing a walk. And, even while striking out 10, he was efficient. Webb started the eighth with his pitch count at 90 and needed only eight pitches to make it through inning, convincing Kapler to send him back out for the ninth.
“I thought it was an excellent performance. … It’s hard to imagine there was another day that was better,” Kapler said. “Ultimately, Webby really wanted the ball. That’s the reason we made that decision. I think his teammates really wanted to see him go out there and get that opportunity. He earned it.”
The three home runs allowed by Webb marked only the second time in his career that he has allowed multiple home runs in a game. The other came in his second major-league start — when Mark Canha hit two homers in an August 2019 win against Oakland — and then Webb went 52 starts without allowing more than one, the longest streak by a Giants pitcher since Tim Lincecum from 2008 to 2010 (67 starts).
Notable
- Tommy La Stella played in his 10th game since returning from offseason Achilles surgery, but only one of his starts has come in the field (third base; May 21 vs. SD). That’s by design, not out of necessity over his health, Kapler said. “He’s good to go. It’s more like how can we configure the best possible lineup everyday and how can we configure the best possible defense and make those things work in harmony.” Donovan Walton has gotten the last two starts at second base against right-handed pitchers, but Kapler said he doesn’t view he and Thairo Estrada as a strict left-right platoon and expects Estrada to continue to play against righties.
- Outfielder Austin Slater (left wrist) arrived in Philadelphia on Monday to join the team, even though he isn’t eligible to come off the injured list until their series opener Thursday in Miami. In a good sign that Slater will be ready to be activated once he is eligible, he joined his teammates taking batting practice before Monday’s game.
- The timeline for Brandon Belt (right knee) is murkier, though the Giants provided some positive news on that front, too. Belt is still in San Francisco, but he has begun hitting in the batting cage. On Sunday, Kapler said Belt was still receiving treatment for the inflammation in his knee.
