Logan Webb helps SF Giants complete sweep of Dodgers in 7-3 victory
The SF Giants celebrated Father's Day on Sunday with a 7-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, completing a three-game sweep over their biggest rival. The Giants will now return home with a seven-game winning streak and are ahead of the Dodgers in the standings for the first time since April 29, 2022. They are also now just 3.5 games back of the Diamondbacks for the top spot in the National League West.
SF Giants ace Logan Webb throws a pitch against the Dodgers on June 18, 2023.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
On the heels of the Giants' 15-0 demolition of the Dodgers on Saturday night, both teams sent their most effective starting pitchers of the season to the hill in the final game of the series. Giants ace Logan Webb and Dodgers righty Tony Gonsolin exchanged zeroes for the first three innings of the game before both offenses found a way to get on the scoreboard.
While Gonsolin fell apart toward the end of his outing, Webb worked around a pair of one-run rallies. He finished the day with five strikeouts across seven innings pitched, surrendering a pair of runs on eight hits and two walks. After the Giants placed Alex Cobb on the injured list earlier in the day, San Francisco needed length from Webb, and he gave them that.
As for the Giants' offense, LaMonte Wade Jr. got things rolling in the fourth inning with a walk. Gonsolin dug his hole even deeper by hitting Joc Pederson with a 2-2 slider. Wade advanced to third on a flyout by Thairo Estrada and scored on a sacrifice fly by Michael Conforto. Pederson, who advanced to second base on Conforto's flyout, subsequently scored on an RBI single by Mike Yastrzemski.
Webb found himself in a similar situation in the bottom half of the inning. David Peralta worked a walk before J.D. Martinez and James Outman hit back-to-back singles to cut the Dodgers' deficit in half. With two runners on and nobody out, Miguel Vargas laid down a sacrifice bunt. Perhaps Vargas bunted on his own, but giving Webb an out seemed like a questionable decision with the eighth and ninth hitters due up.
Jason Heyward hit a ground ball to Estrada, who fielded it cleanly and gunned a throw home. Catcher Patrick Bailey (Giants preseason #21 prospect) hauled in Estrada's throw and tagged Peralta out at home. With two outs, Webb induced an inning-ending ground out from Michael Busch.
Singles by Brandon Crawford and Casey Schmitt (Giants preseason #3 prospect) allowed Crawford to score on a groundout by Wade in the top half of the fifth, but the Dodgers once again answered with a run-scoring rally of their own. Freddie Freeman doubled, scoring on an RBI single by Peralta.
Another lead-off walk from Gonsolin in the top of the sixth prompted another Giants rally. Back-to-back one-out doubles from Yastrzemski and center fielder Luis Matos (Giants preseason #4 prospect) put San Francisco ahead 5-2. A single by Blake Sabol (Giants preseason #33 prospect) drove in another run and ultimately pushed Gonsolin from the game. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called upon southpaw Victor González, who surrendered an RBI single to Wade before escaping the inning.
Matos' double down the left-field line became the latest highlight in the rookies' first week of MLB action. Matos has looked excellent defensively in center field and, even more impressively, has put together excellent plate appearances. After finishing Sunday 1-for-4 with a double, run, and two RBI, Matos is hitting .333/.529/.417 through his first five games with five walks and zero strikeouts in 17 plate appearances. While he will have to prove he can hit for enough power to be a threat against big-league pitching, it's incredibly impressive that opponents have been unable to outsmart a player as young as Matos (who will not turn 22 until next January).
With a five-run lead, Giants manager Gabe Kapler turned to Luke Jackson and Scott Alexander for an inning of work. Jackson struck out a pair in a shutout eighth. Alexander, on the other hand, surrendered a lead-off double and a walk. While he induced a pair of groundballs that could have ended the game, a fielding error by Wade left the bases loaded with only one out.
Alexander has been dealing with a minor hamstring injury over the past two weeks and seemed uncomfortable after covering first base on the play. The Giants ultimately decided to remove him from the game, calling upon closer Camilo Doval.
Doval hit Will Smith with the first pitch he threw, cutting the Giants lead to 7-3, and bringing Peralta to the plate representing the tying run. Despite the difficult situation, Doval buckled down and struck out Peralta. Then, he retired Martinez to finish the game and record his 19th save of the season.
Now 39-32 on the season, the Giants will travel back to Northern California. They will return to Oracle Park on Monday to host the San Diego Padres for a four-game series. Cobb was scheduled to face off against Michael Wacha, but now it's unclear who will make the start for the SF Giants. Regardless, first pitch is scheduled for 6:45 PM Pacific.
