SAN FRANCISCO — It was a near-perfect game all around, and first-year Giants manager Bob Melvin could finally take a sigh of relief.
Logan Webb pitched seven innings of shutout ball, the Giants (9-11) made highlight-reel plays on defense and they came through with timely hits in a 5-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks (9-11).
Asked what the best part of the game was — pitching, fielding or defense — Melvin joked, “2 hours, 12 minutes,” noting the time of the game.
“That starts with Webb,” he said. “A little bit of everything. That’s probably as good a game as we played all year, all the way around. Now we have to sustain it.”
After allowing back-to-back singles to start the game, Webb retired 19 consecutive batters, striking out five, until he walked Christian Walker in the seventh inning. Then he picked Walker off first base.
Webb completed seven innings while allowing just two singles and a walk as he dominated a potent Diamondbacks team that has averaged 5.6 runs per game this season.
“Each and every year he gets better,” Melvin said. “He’s quicker to the plate now. He had a good pickoff move – he worked hard on that. His slider is way better. It’s a true three-pitch mix now.”
Getting a lot of help from his defense, Webb tipped his cap to shortstop Nick Ahmed and outfielders Jung Hoo Lee and Mike Yastrzemski.
Ahmed, facing the Diamondbacks for the first time since he left the organization after becoming the longest-tenured shortstop in franchise history, made a pair of sensational plays to keep Webb’s gem intact.
When Arizona put two men on base in the first, Ahmed handled a bullet and flipped it to second to get Webb out of trouble. Then in the fifth, Randal Grichuk hit a grounder up the middle that Ahmed sprinted to reach, then he turned his body in midair and fired a perfect strike to retire Grichuk at first base.
Ahmed ranks near the top of the majors in defensive runs saved (two) and fewest errors by a shortstop (two). He also added a leadoff double to the left-field wall to get the Giants going in a four-run eighth.
“He’s been unbelievable,” Webb said.
In center field, Lee put on a clinic in route-running when he chased down a blast by Jake McCarthy that would’ve been at least a double, if not a triple had Lee not caught it.
In the sixth inning, McCarthy hammered one that looked destined to find the gap, but Lee ran a perfect route as he sprinted to the spot and made a leaping grab 371 feet from home plate.
Lee also had a pair of infield singles, including one that bounced off pitcher Logan Allen in the third inning. It advanced Patrick Bailey to third base, where he later scored from on a sacrifice fly by LaMonte Wade Jr.
A 1-0 lead was all Webb needed, as he had everything working, including a two-seamer that was moving so much he managed to fan Grichuk looking at a pitch that finished right over the middle.
“I think I felt pretty good throwing that pitch the last couple games,” he said.
Logan Webb, Filthy 92mph Back Door Two Seamer. 😷 pic.twitter.com/queAcLks7D
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 19, 2024
And April is usually Webb’s worst month.
In his sixth big league season, Webb entered Thursday’s start with a career .283 average and .751 OPS allowed in April, easily the worst numbers of any month. He started last April 1-5 with a 4.10 ERA.
“That was not an ideal start to the season,” he said.
Now he’s 2-1 with a 2.93 ERA and the first first big leaguer to reach 30 innings.
He’s also the first pitcher to complete seven innings in a game three times already this season.
The Padres’ Michael King, the Mariners’ Logan Gilbert and the Angels’ Tyler Anderson are the only pitchers to go at least seven innings more than once this year.
“There is a long way to go, just trying to keep getting better as the season goes on,” Webb said.
Webb departed to start the eighth inning, when the Giants hitters woke up to finish this one with an exclamation point.
They loaded the bases with one out for Michael Conforto, but when the Diamondbacks brought in a lefty to face the left-handed Conforto, Melvin countered by pinch-hitting for his cleanup hitter with Wilmer Flores.
“I don’t love it and I haven’t hit for (Conforto) yet this year, and very rarely will,” Melvin said. “But with Wilmer sitting over there with the bases loaded situation, that was tough to pass up.”
Flores promptly smacked a two-run double down the left-field line to send the 26,896 fans at Oracle Park to their feet.
Two batters later, Yastrzemski poked a two-run single into right field to make it 5-0.
It was just the second game in which Yastrzemski has driven in a run this year. He’s off to a slow start, hitting .135 with a .373 OPS.
“The last four or five games I’ve actually felt pretty good, just didn’t have anything to show for it,” he said. “To finally get one to find the outfield grass, in a big moment like that, it felt really good.”
Yaz added a diving catch in right-center to close out his evening.
And for the first time since late March, the Giants won back-to-back games.
“Today is a perfect example of the type of team we are,” Webb said. “That’s our identity.”
Next up: LHP Blake Snell (0-2, 12.86 ERA) goes against LHP Jordan Montgomery, who is making his Diamondbacks debut.
