Logan Webb went eight scoreless innings on Monday night, and so did the San Francisco Giants hitters. Technically, the Giants went 10 scoreless, while the San Diego Padres got a run in the 10th off an automatic runner, a sacrifice bunt, and a sacrifice fly to deal the Giants a frustrating 1-0 loss.
After 13 starts, Webb has thrown 73.1 innings with a 2.55 ERA and 91 strikeouts, against 17 walks. His record is 5-5. Monday, Webb threw eight innings with seven strikeouts, zero walks, and gave up five hits, three of which were infield singles. It’s the third game where the Giants have been shutout in one of Webb’s starts and the fifth game they’ve scored one or fewer runs for him. For the season, the Giants are scoring 3.5 runs when Webb takes the hill.
The Padres got their lone run in the 10th inning off losing pitcher Ryan Walker (1-3), though this one really wasn’t on him. Corporeal ghost runner Jake Cronenworth went to third on Tyler Wade’s sac bunt, then scored when third baseman Jose Iglesias hit a sacrifice fly. Walker’s final line: One inning, seven pitches, six strikes, zero earned runs, one loss.
In their half of the inning, the Giants bunted Jung Hoo Lee to third in an attempt to replicate the magic. Matt Chapman hit a ball 109.7 MPH, the hardest-hit ball of the game, but it turned into a grounder to third. Then Encarnacion delivered a 101 MPH lineout to first and the Giants dropped to 0-3 on the season against the Padres.
The Giants offense has been sputtering for half a month now, but Monday night they did plenty of setting the table, and very little clearing the plates. At different moments in the game, Padres pitchers got into jams and got out of them by exploiting what’s been the Giants’ Achilles heel for more than one season: Hitting with the bases loaded.
In the second inning, Willy Adames walked, then LaMonte Wade, Jr. was hit on the hand by a 95 MPH fastball from Padres starter Stephen Kolek. Sensing an opportunity, Kolek walked Patrick Bailey on five pitches, then got Tyler Fitzgerald to swing at a pitch out of the strike zone, which turned into a grounder to third where Iglesias forced Adames at the plate. Heliot Ramos grounded into a double play and the Giants didn’t score.
There is an argument that the baseball gods intervened after Willy Adames was clearly picked off at second base when catcher Elias Diaz threw behind him. Somehow he was called safe on review.
In addition, the Giants lost Wade, who left the game in favor of Casey Schmitt after running the bases. With his struggles at the plate and the promotion of Jerar Encarnacion on Monday in place of Luis Matos, Wade’s future as the Giants’ everyday first baseman may have already been in peril. If he’s forced to miss time, it’s not clear what the team’s next move would be. Let Encarnacion play every day? (He was 0-for-2 with a strikeout and a ground out.) Incredibly premature promotion of Bryce Eldridge? See if Luis Matos has made it past Davis through the Highway 80 traffic yet and bring him back?
Webb hit catcher Einar Diaz in the hand the next inning, then Kolek hit Wilmer Flores in the hand the next inning, something he was clearly unhappy about and benches…kind of cleared? Some guys stepped out of their dugouts, that is. It’s pretty clear the Padres aren’t afraid of brawling with the Giants, since they can’t hit anything.
In the 7th inning, Schmitt did his best impression of Wade and drew a walk. Tyler Fitzgerald fouled off five pitches on his way to a nine-pitch walk, then Ramos followed with a seven-pitch walk off reliever Jeremiah Estrada. But with the bases loaded, Estrada magically found his control again and struck out Jung Hoo Lee on three pitches.
The Giants threatened once again in the 8th inning, when Wilmer Flores singled and pinch-runner Christian Koss stole second. After two strikeouts, Jason Adam intentionally walked Adames to get to Schmitt, who made that decision look good when he was immediately assessed a pitch clock violation strike for not making eye contact quickly enough. After an 0-2 count, Adam seemed to lose control of his pitches, moving runners the runners up a base with a pitch so wild that it was ready to throw a wild rumpus with a little kid named Max. The next two pitches missed very high, and the 3-2 pitch was way low and outside. Unfortunately, Schmitt swung at it.
Webb’s toughest moment came in the second inning. With one out, Xander Bogaerts doubled, then Cronenworth reached on an infield single to first. Then Webb struck out Wade, and Patrick Bailey threw out Cronenworth as he tried to steal second.
In the third, Webb hit Diaz and Luis Arraez doubled him to third with two outs. Webb went to 3-0 on Manny Machado, then got him to pop out to end the inning. That was the extent of the Padres’ offensive threats, though Iglesias did reach second on a single to short and a throwing error by Adames in the fifth. Webb struck out Fernando Tatis, Jr. to end the threat.
Overall, the Giants managed to get 13 baserunners on six singles, five walks, and two hit batsmen. They also stole two bases. But they went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, their only hit coming on an infield single by Chapman in the first inning that moved Heliot Ramos to third. According to museum enthusiast Glen Kuiper, the Giants are 6-for-57 with RISP over their last nine games, in which their record is 3-6.
Tuesday, the Giants send out Landen Roupp to face rookie right-hander Ryan Bergert, who was just promoted from Triple-A. Can the Giants’ bats wake up against a guy who was pitching for the El Paso Chihuahuas last week? Perhaps. As long as they don’t screw up and load the bases.