Giants' inability to finish games for Webb prevents perfect road trip

Giants' inability to finish games for Webb prevents perfect road trip originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Giants missed out on a chance to put together a perfect road trip because of their inability to close out games for Logan Webb.

For the second time in six days, the Giants ace saw a solid afternoon of work go up in smoke Sunday as the New York Mets rallied for three runs off Tyler Rogers in the bottom of the ninth inning, sneaking away with a 4-3 win that put another damper on what was an otherwise good road trip for the Orange and Black.

San Francisco flew back to the West Coast having won four of six, their best road trip of the 2024 MLB season. The two losses, however, came in games that Webb started.

Each time he was dominant, too.

After going six strong innings and leaving with the lead against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday, Webb was masterful against the Mets. He baffled New York’s batters, allowing three hits and one unearned run – a result of his own error – to go with a season-high eight strikeouts and one walk.

Both times, the Giants' bullpen failed to close things out.

Instead of a 6-0 road trip and Webb improving to 6-4, San Francisco returned home with a 4-2 road trip while Webb is riding consecutive no-decisions.

“It was a weird one,” Webb told reporters at Citi Field in New York. “Any time you win more games than you lose on a road trip, it’s good. Wish we won the other two, but just a crazy road trip.”

Webb was dominant from the get-go, opening the game with consecutive swinging strikeouts of Francisco Lindor and Mets slugger Pete Alonso.

That same inning, Webb appeared to tweak something in his foot or leg while trying to cover first base on a grounder.

On a similar play in the second inning, Webb misplayed a toss from first baseman Wilmer Flores. Webb attempted to make the catch while still trying to get his foot on the bag. The error led to the only run the Mets scored while Webb was in the game.

“I had no clue where the base was,” Webb explained. “Took my eye off of it for a second. Just missed it.”

That was the only real blip on the Webb radar.

He sat down the side in order on three swinging strikeouts in the fourth, pitched around a leadoff double in the fifth and retired nine of the final 10 batters he faced.

“Really good, efficient, [on] a hot day, very few hits,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said in summarizing Webb’s day. “Those type of games you expect to win.”

The same thing could be said about a lot of Webb’s starts this season. The 27-year-old right-hander has been able to work deep into games in eight of his 12 starts but has received very little support from San Francisco’s offense or the bullpen.

It has gotten to the point now that in some circles, people jokingly refer to Webb as the Matt Cain of this era. Cain, the only pitcher to throw a perfect game in franchise history, repeatedly was stung by a lack of run support during his time in San Francisco.

Yet just like Cain, Webb refused to point the finger of blame and tried to remain optimistic.

“I felt good with all my pitches today, so that’s probably a first for this year,” Webb said. “I’m excited about that, to keep that rolling.”

Rogers was used in the closer’s role because Camilo Doval needed a day of rest after pitching in each of the last two games and three of the last four.

“My effort today kind of put a stink on the road trip, but a great road trip for the boys,” Rogers said.

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