Logan Webb leads SF Giants to 4-2 victory over Diamondbacks

SF Giants righty Logan Webb made the most of his 100th career start by throwing seven strong innings in a win over the Diamondbacks.

The SF Giants saw their offense come to life in the middle innings, finally stringing together enough support to compliment a solid outing from ace right-hander Logan Webb as they defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2 on Wednesday evening at Oracle Park. The Giants have now won eight of their last ten games and nine of their last 12 at home.

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In his 100th career start, Webb completed seven innings and allowed three hits, two earned runs, and one walk while striking out four Diamondbacks.

The right-hander became the 35th pitcher since the Giants moved west to San Francisco in 1958 to start at least 100 games with the organization. He also joined an even more exclusive list, becoming the 20th Giant to make each of his first 100 starts with the team. Ironically enough, the Diamondbacks were the team he debuted against on Aug. 17, 2019 at Chase Field.

For pitchers through their first 100 starts with the club, Webb is tied with Bob Knepper for seventh-lowest ERA at 3.48 –– he trails only Tim Lincecum, Juan Marichal, Jim Barr, John Montefusco, Madison Bumgarner, and Ron Bryant..

Webb encountered some trouble right out of the gates, allowing a leadoff single to Geraldo Perdomo to start the game. After his game-saving defensive heroics on Tuesday night, Patrick Bailey had yet another chance to eliminate an attempted base-stealer, but committed a rare error behind the dish when his throw to catch a running Perdomo whizzed into center field –– a 90-foot mistake that led to a run when Perdomo, who advanced to third, scored on Corbin Carroll’s groundout.

Bailey hasn’t made many defensive miscues since being called up to the big leagues. The former first-round pick entered into Wednesday’s matchup with +14 defensive runs saved in 449 innings, according to FanGraphs. While he ranked 29th in innings caught, the total leads all MLB catchers.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was next, cracking a ground-rule double to left to set up a two-out scoring opportunity for Arizona. Jace Peterson followed with a looping single to center, ricocheting off the glove of the diving Luis Matos, to score Gurriel Jr and making it a quick 2-0 lead.

Although he didn’t have his best stuff, Webb’s defense played flawlessly for the most part. Second baseman Isan Diaz made a spectacular sliding play to retire the fourth, ranging far to his left and rolling on his backside to make an athletic and off-balance throw for the out. Joc Pederson, known for his subpar outfield defense, joined in on the action by making a sliding, backhanded catch in left field to retire the fifth.

Webb now has an MLB-leading 12 games of seven or more innings pitched and three or fewer runs allowed. The Giants are now 9-3 in those games.

The Giants were tasked with squaring off against Arizona rookie righty Slade Cecconi, who was making his big league debut. Cecconi was excellent, throwing mostly four-seam fastballs averaging 93 mph –– briefly reaching around 96 mph at times –– and mixing in changeups, sliders, and curveballs.

San Francisco finally broke through in the fifth when J.D. Davis led off with a single off Cecconi. Brandon Crawford followed by crushing an RBI triple to right-center –– a 389-foot drive that left the bat at 102.1 mph that would’ve been a two-run homer in 22 other MLB ballparks.

Crawford’s three-bagger was his 28th at Oracle Park, which is now the most in the ballpark’s history, breaking a first-place tie with Brandon Belt. It was also Crawford’s 44th career triple, making him one shy from tying Willie McCovey for second-most in the San Francisco era –– Willie Mays is the first place leader with an otherworldly 76 triples.

With Crawford at third, Diaz followed by poking a grounder past the drawn-in Diamondbacks infield for a game-tying single to make it 2-2. The swing was Diaz’s first hit at the MLB level this season, snapping an 0-for-15 to start the year.

Even after knocking Cecconi out of the game in the fifth, the Giants weren’t finished and took a two-run lead the following inning when J.D. Davis hammered a go-ahead two-run double with the bases loaded.

Down the line and for the lead ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/4B8ltvk9mg

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) August 3, 2023

Tyler Rogers entered from the bullpen in the eighth inning, tossing a scoreless inning to pave the way for Camilo Doval, who contributed with his 32nd save with a scoreless ninth inning.

The SF Giants have not yet announced a starter for Thursday’s series finale, but the Diamondbacks will send righty Brandon Pfaadt to the hill. The rookie righty faced the Giants on May 14 in Arizona and threw five innings one one-run baseball with three walks and five strikeouts.