SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants’ starting rotation has been rolling lately, a trend that seemed certain to continue with young ace Logan Webb on the mound on Thursday afternoon.
But Webb wasn’t quite his dominant self, yielding five runs (three earned) over 4 2/3 innings as the Giants were shut out, 5-0, to seal a disappointing series split against the D-backs at Oracle Park.
Webb gave up nine hits and walked three while striking out none, marking the first time in his 70 Major League starts that he was unable to record at least one strikeout. The only other strikeout-less appearance of his career occurred when he came out of the bullpen to work one-third of an inning against the Padres on Sept. 27, 2020.
“The stuff wasn’t great, but I thought I was competing,” Webb said. “They’ve got a sneaky good lineup, honestly. [The D-backs are the] lowest chase rate in baseball. I’ve got to figure something out against them.”
The Giants appeared to be injecting life into their playoff hopes by winning five in a row to start this seven-game homestand, but they ended it by dropping two straight to the scrappy D-backs, who have won eight of their 13 meetings this year . San Francisco, which went 17-2 against Arizona in 2021, now stands six games behind the Padres for the third National League Wild Card spot.
The Giants’ offense couldn’t solve Arizona right-hander Zac Gallen, who struck out a career-high 12 over 7 1/3 shutout innings to extend his scoreless streak to 21 1/3 innings.
“[Gallen] threw three pitches wherever he wanted today: a cutter, a changeup and a four-seam fastball,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “He was really able to put the ball in and out of the zone whenever he wanted. When a guy has that kind of command and that kind of stuff, he’s really frustrating. He just beat us today.”
Gallen allowed only four hits and faced the minimum through the first six innings, using a pair of double plays to erase singles from Evan Longoria and Thairo Estrada. The Giants didn’t put runners in scoring position until Joc Pederson singled and advanced to third on Longoria’s double with two outs in the seventh, but they couldn’t capitalize after Brandon Belt struck out on a foul bunt to scuttle the rally.
Belt, who is now 12-for-72 (.167) over his last 23 games, attempted to lay down a bunt on a 1-2 offering from Gallen, but he pushed it foul, resulting in an anticlimactic end to the inning.
“It’s definitely tough,” Belt said. “From my point of view, I’ve been struggling a little bit. He was tough all day. He didn’t have a whole lot of misses. He was hitting that high inside with his fastball. I took the best route that I thought would keep the inning going. I’m not saying I’m right about that, but that was the decision I made. I felt very comfortable bunting. I just didn’t get it down. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out.”
It was the second unsuccessful two-strike bunt attempt for the Giants, as Brandon Crawford also struck out after popping out in foul territory on his try in the sixth.
“When two guys are bunting with two strikes, it means that they’re just trying to scrap and claw against a guy that’s really dealing and dominating,” Kapler said. “Those are two veteran players that have been doing this a really long time and are pretty well equipped to decide the best way not to make an out. That’s what they determined in those spots. I trust Brandon completely — both of them.”
Gallen returned to the mound in the eighth, although the Giants caught a break when JD Davis’ fly ball to center field clanked off the glove of Alek Thomas, allowing Davis to cruise into second base with no outs. But the Giants still couldn’t cash in, as Gallen retired Crawford on a lineout before giving way to Noé Ramirez, who coaxed flyouts from Joey Bart and Mike Yastrzemski to leave Davis stranded.
The Giants’ starting rotation entered Thursday 6-0 with a 2.77 ERA over its last 11 games, although Webb couldn’t keep that dominant run going after enduring his shortest start since June 4. Webb gave up nine hits, including seven singles, and struggled to put hitters away despite consistently getting ahead in counts.
The D-backs got on the board with a two-run rally in the third, tacked on another run in the fourth and then knocked Webb from the game in the fifth with the help of Pederson, who dropped a flyball in left field that set up another two-spot that put the Giants in a 5-0 hole.
The 25-year-old Webb ranks second in the league with a career-high 154 2/3 innings, although he said he doesn’t believe his workload is beginning to take a toll on his body at this late stage in the season.
“I feel good, and that’s the most frustrating thing,” Webb said. “Today was probably the best I’ve felt in a good month, and I kind of sucked.”
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