SAN FRANCISCO – Manager Bob Melvin didn’t have any discussions with Logan Webb about sending the Giants ace out for the ninth inning Wednesday night. The two men shared a fist bump, and Webb chatted briefly with pitching coach Bryan Price then trotted out to the mound to finish his masterpiece.
“I let him walk right by,” Melvin said after San Francisco’s 1-0 victory in the final edition of the Bay Bridge Series at Oracle Park. “If he had any problems, he would have said something. Bryan went by and checked on him real quick, but he was going out. I was hoping he wanted to go back out.”
One day after the MLB trade deadline, when general manager Farhan Zaidi made the proclamation that the Giants have the best rotation in baseball, Webb made an emphatic statement to back up that claim.
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The 27-year-old All-Star handcuffed the Oakland Athletics on five hits, all singles, while posting his second career shutout and third complete game. Webb walked one and had six strikeouts.
It was the exact type of outing that both Webb and the Giants needed. Webb was winless in his four previous starts, while San Francisco is clinging on to slim playoff hopes.
“It’s a known thing [that] I’ve been struggling a little bit. Just wanted to go out there and get back to what I’m good at,” Webb said. “Today was a perfect example. [Catcher Patrick Bailey] called a great game and defense was amazing behind me. So it was an all-around great game.”
With the exception of an offense that has been missing so much it might as well be on the back of a milk carton, it was a solid effort all the way around for the Giants.
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No one was better than Webb, however.
The complete game was the Giants’ first since Webb had his magic going against the Colorado Rockies on July 9, 2023 and won 1-0. He allowed only one runner past second base, then worked out of that jam in the first inning by getting back-to-back strikeouts.
Webb, who leads the majors this season for innings pitched, logged his majors-leading 12th game of seven innings or more. And he upped his ground ball total to 254 this season, also tops in MLB.
Asked if pitching in a tight game helped him stay more locked in, Webb shrugged.
“Maybe you feel like you need to be a little bit more perfect, which could be a good thing or a bad thing,” Webb said. “Whenever it’s a 1-0 game, obviously you’re going back out there quick. Sometimes it helps out with the rhythm part of it, too.”
Much of Webb’s success came via his changeup, one of the best pitches in his arsenal but one that he has had trouble controlling in recent starts.
Against the A’s, Webb threw 54 changeups and routinely had Oakland’s hitters whiffing at air.
“Not only was he getting groundballs, he was getting swings-and-misses,” Melvin said. “His movement was back today, backdoor sinkers, changeups going straight down. He’s been using his slider a little bit more, but the changeup is his bread and butter, and when that’s good, he leans on it.”
Webb was pitching so efficient that Melvin was willing to stick with the left-hander even if the A’s scored a run in the ninth.
“That’s where I was,” Melvin said. “The pitch count was starting to get a little bit uncomfortable … but I couldn’t see taking him out without giving up a run.”
Bailey, who also caught Webb’s only other shutout, said getting Webb going in the right direction again is key to the remainder of the 2024 MLB season.
“He’s struggled a little bit this month, but to be able to get him back on track … obviously the rotation’s what’s going to carry us the rest of the year,” Bailey said. “That was a good start.”
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