What we learned as Webb recovers to pitch shutout against A’s originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — The offense-hungry Giants scored just one run against former teammate Ross Stripling, but with the way Logan Webb pitched, that hardly mattered as they beat the Oakland Athletics 1-0 on Wednesday.
Webb (8-8) was masterful in turning the third complete game and second shutout of his MLB career. The Giants All-Star allowed five hits – all singles – and had six strikeouts with one walk.
The San Francisco ace, who leads the majors in innings pitched, needed 106 pitches to get the win. Webb allowed a two-out single to Abraham Toro in the ninth inning before inducing a hit from Seth Brown as the crowd of 38,668 at Oracle Park roared.
Webb’s other stop came against the Colorado Rockies on June 7, 2023. That game also ended 1-0.
It’s just the second time during the 2024 MLB season that the Giants (54-56) have won a game 1-0.
He also scored the 1,571st victory in coach Bob Melvin’s career, tying him for 24th place on the all-time list with Hall of Famer Dick Williams.
Webb started the day by coming out of a sticky situation in the first round.
After Oakland’s Miguel Andujar hit a one-out single in the first inning to advance to third when JJ Bleday’s sharp shot hit diving second baseman Brett Wisely’s glove to left field, Webb retired the A. , Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers, via eliminations. .
The Giants couldn’t get much offense against Stripling, who went 0-5 in 22 games with San Francisco in 2023.
Brett Wisely drove in the only run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.
Here are the takeaways from Wednesday’s game:
Arrested once again
Once again, the Giants’ production failures with the basemen came back to affect them, especially with the guys in scoring position.
Matt Chapman doubled off the wall in left field, leading off the second, but didn’t get very far after that. Chapman moved to third on Michael Conforto’s groundout before Tyler Fitzgerald and Mike Yastrzemski came up.
That’s been a troubling trend during the 2024 campaign for the Giants, who enter the 13thth in the majors with a .245 batting average with runners in scoring position.
Wisely Gets an RBI
Brett Wisely’s career got off to a solid start the first two months after he was called up from the minors, but his numbers were dropping by July.
The young infielder, who drove in six runs in May and nine in June, had driven in a run just once in his previous 13 games before hitting a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning for the Giants’ only run of the night.
It may not seem like much, but getting production out of the back end of the lineup is key for San Francisco.
Comfort ready for a new month
Michael Conforto hasn’t come close to meeting the expectations set for him this season, and Wednesday’s game against the A’s was a continuation of his frustrations.
Conforto began the day batting .225, the second-lowest mark of his career. That number dropped to .223 after the veteran outfielder went hitless in three at-bats.
Conforto took second in each of his first two at-bats against Stripling, then homered against reliever TJ McFarland.
All season, Conforto has swung the bat very well, but he must be happy to see the calendar change month. In his last 18 games through July 9, Conforto hit just .148 (8-for-54).
