After scoring a combined 14 runs in their first two games of the season, the San Francisco Giants entered Saturday’s rubber match against the Seattle Mariners expecting their lineup to be a difference-maker.
An offense featuring five left-handed hitters against Seattle right-hander Chris Flexen was definitely the difference, but not in the way the club hoped. The Giants were shut out for just the third time in a nine-inning game under manager Gabe Kapler as they managed six hits and two walks in a forgettable 4-0 defeat.
The Giants forced Flexen to throw 94 pitches in five innings, but couldn’t score against the Newark Memorial High product who returned to the United States this winter after spending the 2020 season pitching in the Korean Baseball Organization.
Kapler’s club had runners reach second base in each of Flexen’s last three innings, but the Giants failed to break through and finished Saturday’s game 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
The Giants’ best chance to score came in the eighth inning when Mike Yastrzemski and Donovan Solano picked up back-to-back one-out singles, but pinch-hitter Darin Ruf popped out before Evan Longoria ripped a 106.0 mile per hour one-hopper directly to Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford who made a routine throw to first to end the threat.
It would have taken a perfect night from the Giants’ pitching staff to keep pace with the Mariners, and given his performance during spring training, starter Logan Webb may have given his club some hope.
In 17 innings during Cactus League play, Webb almost never pitched in traffic as he allowed just nine baserunners while posting a 0.53 ERA. But in 5 1/3 innings on Saturday, Webb let 10 Mariners reach base as Seattle hitters sat on his changeup in the third inning before his command evaded him in the sixth.
Webb encountered more trouble in the first inning on Saturday than he saw most of the spring as Mariners designated hitter Mitch Haniger squibbed a double off the first base bag before Kyle Seager dribbled an infield single in front of third baseman Evan Longoria.
The righty needed 23 pitches to escape the first, but kept the Mariners off the board. He didn’t have the same good fortune in the third or fourth as Seattle’s batters began hunting Webb’s best pitch. Ty France broke a scoreless tie in the third by launching a changeup over the left center field wall before Evan White, Taylor Trammell and Dylan Moore drilled two strike changeups for three consecutive doubles to open the bottom of the fourth.
Webb limited the Mariners to two fourth inning runs with the help of a 6-4-3 double play, but as his pitch count climbed and the righty fatigued, he issued two sixth-inning walks that forced Kapler to turn the game over to his bullpen.
Much like he’s done throughout his brief major league career, Webb showed flashes of brilliance as he struck out five Mariners hitters and induced plenty of soft contact, but Saturday’s outing showed there’s still room for improvement if the Giants hope to rely on him as a consistent middle-of-the-rotation starter.
Webb will have a week to recalibrate between starts as the Giants have two off days before his next outing while the lineup will take what seems like a much-needed breather Sunday before returning to play against the Padres in San Diego.
The Giants will remain optimistic about their offense moving forward, but they’ll face quite a test at Petco Park as high-profile Padres trade acquisitions Yu Darvish and Blake Snell are both scheduled to face San Francisco.
