LeMonte Wade Jr belts a third inning three run home run for the San Francisco Giants against the Milwaukee Brewers at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Jul 17, 2022 (AP News photo)

Milwaukee       (50-43).          5.  9.  2

San Francisco (48-43).           9 12.  0

Sunday, July 27, 2022

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO-Saturday, it was Cobb; Sundady, it was Webb. Saturday, Alex Cobb wove a web of seven inning, four hit, no earned runs baseball, to guide the Giants to a heart pounding 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. That feat left the visitor’s record at 50-42 and their hosts’ at 47-43. Today, Logan Webb handled Milwaukee with ease, giving the Giants an almost tension free 9-5 win.

Webb entered the game with a  sterling mark of 8-3, 2.82, thanks largely to his judicious mixture of sliders and changeups.  The 25 year old righty left the game after hurling 6+ innings and allowing just a first inning run on a four bagger by Willy Adames and three scattered singles and two walks.

Webb had, however, left a runner on first who later scored a posthumous run, which was charged to his account. He struck five out five and threw a total of 88 pitches, of which 34 were balls. He earned his ninth win against three setbacks and saw his ERA rise from 2.82 to 2.83.

On the mound, starting for the visitors was the 24 year old lefty Aaron Ashby, in the second season of his MLB career, making his first appearance against San Francisco. Before today, the only Giant against whom he’d thrown a ball in anger was Joc Pederson, whom he walked.

Ashby took the mound at 2-6, 4.37. He´s both  started and relived this year, so, at first, it wasn´t clear if he was working today as a starter or an opener, especially when Jason Alexander, who originally had been announced as the probable pitcher for the Brewers, began warming up in their bullpen during the first inning.

Ashby ended up getting credit for pitching but one inning, leaving a posthumous runner on third with no outs in the second frame.

It didn’t take long for the Brew Crew to take the lead. ten pitches into the game, Willy Adames lifted a 91mph slider 424 feet into the left center field bleachers for a one out solo home run, the 19th of the year.

That run, the 51st batted in by the Brewers’ shortstop, was all the damage the visitors were able to inflict on Webb that inning.

The Giants counterattacked in their half of the initial frame. Austin Slater opened it with a ground double to center and advanced to third on a wild pitch to Brandon Belt, pinch hitting for Yermín Mercedes. Wilmer Flores´s sacrifice fly to center knotted the score at one and foiled the Curse of the Leadoff Double.

Mike Yastdrezmski´s lead off double against the left centerfield field wall and advancement to third on Jonathan Davis´s error settled the question of Ashby´s status. He was an opener; Jason Alexander left the bullpen and came to the mound. He fanned Joey Bart and LaMonte Wade, Jr. before issuing a free pass to Slater. 

Belt dropped a broken bat single to right that plated Yaz and sent Slater to second. He continued on to third, where he was thrown out by Hunter Renfroe’s strong throw. The Giants challenged the call, but Doug Eddings upheld it from New York. The Curse of the Leadoff Double was 0 for 2, and the Giants’ left the inning ahead, 2-1.

The hits just kept coming in the Giants’ third. A leadoff single to right by Flores; another base knock to right by Longoria; a double. off the right field wall by Pederson, and San Francisco was leading by two runs with men on second and third with nobody out.

That’s when the hits stopped coming, with Alexander getting a couple of ground outs. But then Joey Bart beat out a slow bounder to third to drive in Longoria with the second Giant run of the inning.

Wade accounted for their third, fourth, and fifth tallies of the frame by sending a slider into McCovey Cove for a splash hit, the third of his career and also his third home run of the season. Incidentally, it gave the Giants a margin of 7-1.

They upped that lead a couple of notches in the sixth on a walk to Slater and Belt’s 368 foot blast to right for his third round tripper in seven games.

After Webb granted a base on ball to Andrew McCutchen to open the visitors’ seventh, Jakob Judis, recently returned from the IL, took over and, after striking out Wong, surrendered a single to left by Jace Peterson, followed by a double to the same field by by Renfroe that allowed both runners to score, cutting the Giants’ lead to 9-3.

After Connor Sadzek relieved the badly battered Alexander following the seventh inning rituals and kept the Giants off the board, Judis allowed the Brew Crew to make a game of it, surrendering a solid single to left by Yellich and a 411 foot monster shot to Rowdy Tellez to center that closed the gap between the teams to 9-5.

Kapler, Bailey & Co. called on Camilo Doval to close down the Brewers in ninth. He earned his 13th save in 15 attempts, setting Milwaukee down in order with a little help from a spectacular catch in left by Pederson for the second out.

The Giants entered the all-star break on an upbeat note, winning three straight and looking good.