There were dinky flares, grounders that found gaps between infielders, barrels down the line and two-out smacks.
The Diamondbacks beat Logan Webb for nine hits and chased him out before the righty could finish the fifth inning. It was the first start of Webb’s MLB career in which he didn’t record a strikeout.
When Webb exited, the Diamondbacks had built a 5-0 lead that held as San Francisco couldn’t generate any action against a dominant Zac Gallen. The Giants got out-hit 13 to 4 and Gallen collected a career-high 12 strikeouts, including two foul bunts.
After winning five straight, the Giants (59-59) have now dropped both starts from their co-aces Webb and Carlos Rodón to split the series with Arizona.
“They’ve got a sneaky good lineup, honestly,” Webb said postgame. “I think they’re like second-lowest in chase rate in baseball. It’s the third time they’ve kind of given me fits. Even last year I feel like they did a little bit. I’ve got to figure something out against them.”
Webb needed double plays to end both the first and second innings, then got into more trouble in the third.
A walk — one of the three Webb issued — single and pair of doubles put the Diamondbacks up 2-0.
Arizona added another in the fourth after two runners advanced into scoring position with no outs.
Webb didn’t get help in the fifth, when Stone Garrett’s fading line drive deflected off left fielder Joc Pederson’s glove for an error. The two runs that scored after Pederson’s gaffe — on a trio of two-out singles — registered as unearned.
“I’ve got to do a better job of executing pitches in certain situations,” Webb said. I had a lot of 0-2 pitches, like I said I was getting ahead. I just couldn’t finish them off and they did a good job of finding holes. Gave up seven singles. Just kind of the way it goes sometimes.”
The 4.2-inning start matches Webb’s second-shortest of the season. His stumble was uncharacteristic both for him and the Giants rotation, which has been a strength all season and had amassed a 2.77 ERA over the past 11 games.
Webb has already exceeded his career-high in innings on the season, but both he and manager Gabe Kapler said he’s holding up well physically. Webb said Wednesday was as strong as he felt in a month.
Gallen, meanwhile, faced the minimum amount of batters through six innings. He allowed two hits, but double plays quickly erased SF’s base runners. He struck out the side in the sixth, starting with Brandon Crawford on a foul bunt attempt.
“He was tough all day,” Brandon Belt said postgame. “Didn’t have a whole lot of misses.”
In the seventh, Joc Pederson and Evan Longoria recorded two-out hits, but they were each stranded in scoring position when Belt also struck out on a foul bunt.
Kapler said he trusted Belt to make the best decision at the plate. The 12-year veteran said given the way he was seeing Gallen’s pitches, he thought bunting with two strikes was his best chance at extending the inning. If he could get a do-over, he said he’d again try to lay down a bunt.
But fans in Oracle Park booed Belt after his questionable decision that resulted in the end of the seventh. Gallen chuckled on his way off the field. The starter had his career-high 12th strikeout, and the Giants had nothing.