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SAN FRANCISCO – Ten years ago, when Logan Webb was trying to lead a junior All-Star baseball team through the Western Regionals in Irvine, Calif., Erik Webb got a call from the team’s coach. He and his pitcher were at odds over how the team should handle the rotation. Logan’s side were to face a team from Idaho in the semifinals, but Logan wanted to be saved for the championship game.
“He said to his coach, ‘Don’t waste me now,'” recalls Erik Webb on Sunday afternoon.
It took a while for Logan Webb to get to a day like Game 162 at Oracle Park. He didn’t end up starting that championship game in Irvine, and he joined the Giants when the franchise was in a rut. But on Sunday afternoon, in a game the Giants absolutely had to win to win National League West, Webb got that call.
The Giants had Webb lined up for that final start for weeks, and when the 24-year-old ran to the mound at 12:05 p.m. he looked right at home. Webb hit the side in the first inning, and as he strutted off the mound he had a hint of a small smile on his face. Erik Webb wasn’t surprised when he saw his son lead the Giants to an 11-4 win over the Padres.
“He wants this,” he said afterwards. “He wants to be in the big spot.
The Giants knew Logan Webb, one of baseball’s best pitchers since May, would give them what they needed on the mound. What they couldn’t expect was that he would impersonate Madison Bumgarner in the biggest game at Oracle Park in five years.
It’s not just that Webb hit a two-run homer, the first of his career. It was the way he did business. He turned to Padres right-hander Dinelson Lamet when an inside throw nearly caught him on the hand as he was on target for cushioning, then he backed into the box, took two more hacks and scored a not that kept the line moving. He sported a flat expression on the mound, but a satisfied smile with every point he scored and every scoreless inning he completed.
Webb is the youngest member of the rotation, but on Sunday he was the one who set the tone for the Giants’ 107 wins.
“I think we, as a group, needed a boost of confidence after yesterday’s loss, that someone was going to stand up and say, ‘Get on my back and I’ll do the job.'” manager Gabe Kapler said. “Logan really did that.
The victory that has won the Premier League title in San Francisco since 2012 ended up being a blowout, but there was some anxiety on Saturday night as Kapler watched the Dodgers beat the Brewers to make sure Sunday’s games would be. significant. He trusted Webb, but there was cause for concern when the Giants came to the park on Sunday.
Programming had not reached its usual standards among all residents. The defense clearly lacked Brandon Belt’s glove at the start. The enclosure was gassed, and while he didn’t want to let the Padres know, Kapler wasn’t sure he could use young right-hander Camilo Doval, who had pitched four of the previous five games and warmed up the other. night.
There were ways that day could have escaped the giants. And then Webb stepped on the rubber and hit the side in the first, throwing 95 mph with the same vertical break as Kevin Gausman’s splitter.
“When he’s active he’s as good as anyone,” said wide receiver Buster Posey. “With his lead he can get through a lineout with few shots, and we saw him today. I was interested to see if he was going to be over-amplified. Sometimes when a lead gets too excited. , he flattened himself a bit on top of him, but it was clear soon enough that he had depth on it. “
Webb pitched the eighth and although he was charged with four earned runs, that doesn’t tell the story of his day at all. With the Giants leading 11-1 in the eighth, Webb returned to try and give the box some more rest. The Padres rallied briefly, but that didn’t take away from the glow of the day.
Allowing a run in the first seven innings would have been more than enough, but Webb wasn’t done. He had made no secret of the fact that he desperately wanted a major league home run, and with the Giants falling away in the fifth, Webb got a change to the core of the plate and smoked it to left.
The explosion was Webb’s first since high school, and it offset a similar attempt in August, hitting the wall 399 feet from the plate. Webb laughed after the game and said the home run was “much more important” than anything he had done on Sunday. Perhaps more importantly, it gave him the bragging rights of Kevin Gausman, who hit a fly-off bag in September.
“He was telling me that he watched this video of his departure every day,” Webb said. “The first thing I did was get in (into the canoe) and say, ‘You know how you look at your start? I’m going to watch my home run every day.'”
Webb will have at least four days to replay the clip. Sunday’s victory, which came minutes before the Dodgers beat the Brewers to finish at 106 wins, ensured the Giants would have time to rest and wait for the winner of the NL Wild Card Game. They will host either the Dodgers or the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, but Kapler wasn’t ready to say which way he leaned between Webb and Gausman for Game 1.
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No matter when it starts, it’s quite clear that Webb will be ready. Erik Webb said his son has been waiting for this day since he was five, and Logan has certainly made the most of it. He called it the best day of his career, then he stopped and smiled.
“So far,” he added.
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