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What we learned as Webb labors vs. Cardinals in fifth straight loss

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5 months ago

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What we learned as Webb labors vs. Cardinals in fifth straight loss

BOX SCORE

ST. LOUIS — On the final day of a six-game, three-city road trip that was equal parts emotional and exhausting, the Giants found themselves looking at the wrong kind of history. 

Sonny Gray took a perfect game into the seventh inning against his former manager and allowed just one hit, a loud homer from Patrick Bailey that broke up the perfect game, no-hitter and shutout as it sailed deep into the seats in right. The Giants tried to rally late but couldn’t come back, losing 5-3 to the St. Louis Cardinals, who swept the three-game series and handed the Giants a 1-5 road trip. 

On a muggy 90-degree day at Busch Stadium, the Giants didn’t even make Gray break a sweat as he churned through one quick inning after the next. He was handed a three-run lead in the first and went nine up, nine down on just 34 pitches. 

The Giants didn’t hit a ball over 100 mph in the first six innings, and the closest they came to reaching base came when Austin Slater took a 3-1 pitch on the edge of the strike zone for a called strike with two outs in the sixth. Slater swung through the next one, a fastball up in the zone. 

That was Gray’s 66th pitch of the day, and he got two quick outs to open the seventh before Bailey ambushed an 0-1 curveball that was in and off the plate. Gray received a standing ovation from the crowd, and then bounced back with a strikeout of Jorge Soler, one of eight on the day. 

The Cardinals removed Gray after that out, which came on his 80th pitch, and the Giants immediately went to work. Wilmer Flores got a run back with a double in the eighth and Slater cut the deficit to one with a sacrifice fly. The Giants had the tying run on second for Heliot Ramos, but he hit a high chopper to Brandon Crawford, playing third for just the second time in his career. 

Crawford showed that he still has his usual feel for the game, beating Flores to the bag by a fraction of a second. As the Giants challenged, Crawford jogged off the infield, confident that he had won the race. A review showed that he was right, and a few minutes later he drove a double off Taylor Rogers to add an insurance run. 

Here are three observations from the game:

Somebody make it stop

The Giants have done a poor job of controlling the running game all season long, and it doesn’t appear they’re anywhere close to finding a fix. They seem to be heading in the wrong direction, actually. The Cardinals swiped four bags Sunday, including three in the first two innings as they built a healthy lead. 

They stole six bases in two games at Busch Stadium and Bailey rarely even seemed to have a chance. That’s been a trend all month, and it’s costing the Giants — who also are last in the majors in offensive stolen bases — just about every game.

They allowed 13 steals in 14 attempts on the road trip and opponents are an astounding 25 for 26 against them this month. In three of six games on the trip, the Giants allowed at least three stolen bases. They have just two three-steal games of their own all season. 

Got to him early

The key when facing Logan Webb always has been to try and jump on him before he finds his rhythm and the Cardinals were able to do that, scoring three times in the first and adding a fourth run in the second. Webb settled in from there and got through six, but the damage had been done. 

The Cardinals had nine hits off Webb, six coming in his first two innings. He ended up giving up six runs in 13 innings on the trip. His next start will come Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oracle Park. 

Hello, old friend

There has been a lot of turnover since Crawford said goodbye at Oracle Park last fall, and he really only saw significant action with four of the hitters in Sunday’s lineup. He’s very close to Webb, though, and for the first time the friends got to face off outside of Scottsdale Stadium live BP sessions. 

They essentially played to a draw, with Crawford striking out, lining out and walking in three plate appearances before Webb departed. If there was anything beyond the game on the line, it was hard to tell. Crawford didn’t make eye contact after missing a two-strike changeup in the second inning and there wasn’t anything noticeable after he drew the walk. 

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