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Brandon Crawford's early homer lifts SF Giants to 7-4 win over Mets

The SF Giants pounced on Mets starter David Peterson early and rode a first-inning rally to Logan Webb's first win of the season.

Marc Delucchi

Brandon Crawford's early homer lifts SF Giants to 7-4 win over Mets
Brandon Crawford's early homer lifts SF Giants to 7-4 win over Mets /
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The SF Giants defeated the New York Mets 7-4 on Saturday afternoon. It marks the Giants' first win of the season in a start by recently extended ace Logan Webb. San Francisco's offense had only mustered seven runs in Webb's four starts entering the day, but they matched that output by the fifth inning.

SF Giants starting pitcher Logan Webb throws a pitch against the New York Mets. (2023)
SF Giants ace Logan Webb throws a pitch against the Mets. (2023) / Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports

Webb did not have his sharpest stuff early in his outing, but a combination of good fortune and standout defensive plays helped him limit the damage before he found a rhythm in the middle innings. In the end, it was easily his most effective outing of the season.

"I thought that was the best overall game that we played," Webb said during his media availability postgame. "That's the brand of baseball that we're trying to play. That's Giants baseball. That's what we're trying to do. It's been tough lately, but we know we're capable of that."

Third baseman David Villar had the web gem of the afternoon, making an impressive sliding stop and throw to retire Starling Marte in the first inning. Catcher Joey Bart also caught a pair of Mets baserunners trying to steal while Webb was on the mound.

Webb retired the last 10 batters he faced. He allowed two earned runs on five hits and a walk across seven innings pitched with eight strikeouts. It was Webb's first outing of the season without allowing four runs. While his ERA on the season remains an inflated 4.40, he ranks among the top five pitchers in MLB in both strikeouts and innings pitched.

The Giants lineup quickly quelled concerns that they would once again be stymied by a left-handed pitcher. Thairo Estrada and Michael Conforto singled in the bottom of the first inning against Mets starter David Peterson, putting runners on the corners with one out. Wilmer Flores loaded the bases with a walk.

Villar drove in Estrada with a sacrifice fly on a soft liner to center field. Then, Brandon Crawford ended a four-game hitless streak with a three-run blast to Levi's Landing in right field. Peterson made Crawford look foolish on a 1-1 slider off the plate, but the veteran shortstop jumped on a hanger two pitches later for his third home run of the season.

The Mets got on the scoreboard in the top of the second. Webb surrendered a two-out walk to Mark Canha before designated hitter Dan Vogelbach hit a towering fly ball to right-center field.

Giants right fielder Michael Conforto, who was making his first start in the field since he left a game on April 12th with calf tightness, slowly drifted back into triple's alley. Vogelbach's fly ball seemed to carry more than he expected and fell to the ground beyond the glove of a diving Conforto. Vogelbach jogged into second with an RBI double.

With that said, Vogelbach's hit would have been a home run in 27 of the 29 other MLB ballparks. Webb struck out the next batter he faced, stranding Vogelbach in scoring position.

Heliot Ramos (Giants #17 prospect) led off the bottom of the second with an opposite-field double that came off his bat at 106.8 mph. Singles by Estrada and Darin Ruf eventually brought Ramos around to score. Estrada extended the lead to 6-1 on a fielder's choice by Conforto with an excellent slide underneath Mets catcher Tomás Nido's glove.

Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo, who passed on an offer from the Giants this offseason to stay in New York, hit a solo home run in the top of the third inning against Webb, but Flores answered with a solo shot of his own in the fifth.

Giants reliever Scott Alexander allowed a run to score in the top of the eighth while closer Camilo Doval allowed a run on a pair of hits in the ninth before recording the final out. With the win, the Giants improved to 7-13 on the season. The Mets fell to 14-8.

The SF Giants will look to win back-to-back games for the first time this season on Sunday. They will send Ross Stripling to the mound tomorrow when he will square off against Mets righty Tyler Megill. First pitch at Oracle Park is scheduled for 4:10 PM Pacific.

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Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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