Logan Webb’s gem fuels pivotal win over Dodgers – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

BOX SCORE

LOS ANGELES — Three hours before Friday’s game, a very polite local reporter asked Giants manager Bob Melvin if he could talk about the game plan against Los Angeles Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Melvin smiled and politely declined. 

The game plan was apparently a good one.

Casey Schmitt hit a grand slam in the third and the Giants knocked Yamamoto out in the fifth, rolling to a 6-2 win in their first meeting of the season with the Dodgers. With the victory, their eighth in their last nine games, the Giants moved into a tie atop the National League West. This is the first time since 2021 that they have held a share of the division lead this late in a season.

Schmitt’s first career slam broke the game open, but Logan Webb didn’t need nearly that much help. Webb struck out Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts in the first and cruised from there, taking the lead through the seventh. He allowed just two runs and picked up his fifth career regular season win against the Dodgers. 

Schmitt Happened

After giving an update on his injured right hand Friday, Matt Chapman said the Giants were in good hands at third base and that Schmitt would be a big part of the team even after the starting third baseman returns. That proved to be wildly prophetic. 

By the time Schmitt stepped to the plate in the third, both teams were already fed up with home plate umpire Adam Beck, who had a tight zone and was prone to making delayed strike calls. Both Yamamoto and Webb bent over at the hips early on in frustration over calls, but the Dodger had a particularly hard time with the tight zone. He walked three in the third without looking particularly wild, and Schmitt made him pay. 

With two outs, Yamamoto threw a splitter at the bottom of the zone and Schmitt unloaded. His second homer of the year and road trip left the bat at 108.6 mph and traveled halfway up the bleachers in left. Schmitt knew right away that he had swung the game … 

Crank It Up

The return to Dodger Stadium seemed to bring a little extra out of Webb. He hit 95 mph three times in the first inning, including on a strikeout of Ohtani. Coming into the game, he had touched 95 just four times in 14 starts, although three of them were in his last start, so perhaps this was just a sign of how good he’s feeling three months into the season.

Webb developed his cutter last year in part because he needed another weapon against the Dodgers, and he threw it a career-high 29 times Friday. The pitch got him 22 strikes and six swinging strikes. 

The top of the order — Ohtani, Betts and Freddie Freeman — was 0-for-8 with a walk and four strikeouts against Webb, who kept his ERA at 2.58. He’s fifth in the NL in ERA, second in innings and third in strikeouts. Paul Skenes is the Cy Young frontrunner and the likely All-Star starter, but Webb is right in the mix for both after 15 starts. 

He Does It At Sea Level, Too

Melvin said before the game that Willy Adames’ recent surge wasn’t just a Coors Field thing. He is seeing a more relaxed version of the shortstop, and the Giants believe that will lead to big things in the weeks and months to come. On Friday, Adames looked like someone who really has turned the corner. 

The Giants got on the board first when Adames hit an opposite-field blast in the first inning, his eighth of the year and third of the road trip. He nearly did it again a few innings later, but his fly ball to deep center died on the track. 

Adames has raised his OPS to .635. It was .584 when the Giants arrived in Denver earlier this week.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast