*Photo from the New York Times*
San Francisco leads series 1-0
You might as well just call game one of the NLDS the Logan Webb spectacular. He showed us exactly why. Webb starred, Buster Posey homered, and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 on Friday night to take a 1-0 series lead in the NLDS.
Webb is the youngest starter on the Giants, and a California native. So far, he hasn't shied away from the big moment, he's lived up to it. In his first postseason game, he struck out 10 hitters and walked no one, becoming the 4th Giants pitcher with that strikeout total in a single playoff game. In MLB history, he's the second pitcher to throw at least 7 shutout innings in a playoff debut, joined by Jake Arrieta.
Giants star Kris Bryant loved Webb's performance, saying "Logan, the star of the night. I'm so impressed with him. His first playoff experience and he was just out there pretending like it's a game in the backyard. It was really fun to watch. Really fun."
For his final line, in addition to 10 strikeouts and zero walks, Webb allowed just 5 hits over 7 2/3 brilliant innings, getting the well deserved win. Tyler Rogers came on after Webb was lifted, getting the necessary out to finish the 8th inning. Camilo Doval, a recent strong performer, locked it down with a shutout 9th inning.
Webb's performance puts him alongside some pretty legendary Giants, who set these records not too long ago. Webb joined Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner as the only starters in team history to strike out 10 or more hitters and throw at least 7 2/3 innings in a postseason start. Lincecum accomplished it in 2010, and Bumgarner did in 2014. The Giants are also undefeated in all 13 of Webb's home starts this season.
Posey said of catching Webb that "He's got three pitches that are elite, and so it's definitely a luxury on my end to kind of pick and choose depending upon the game and the lineup that we have and the action that I'm seeing on his pitches to which one we want to lean on more."
It was Posey who got the Giants going, crushing a two run home run into McCovey Cove, out of the ballpark, in the first inning, giving the Giants an early 2-0 lead. It stayed that way until the 7th inning, when Bryant hit a solo home run to left field, making it a 3-0 game. Brandon Crawford then made it 4-0 with a solo home run of his own, coming in the 8th inning.
Walker Buehler got hit with the loss for the Dodgers, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and one walk, fanning 5 hitters in 6 1/3 innings, falling to 0-1 this postseason. Brusdar Graterol finished the 7th inning for the Dodgers. Alex Vesia gave up the solo home run in the 8th to Crawford, and Phil Bickford finished off that inning.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the loss that "To be quite honest, we didn't make adjustments. I thought he had good command tonight, mostly the glove side versus the right-hand hitters. Then the slider, the change down below, and we just chased a lot more than we should have. If you don't make adjustments, then they're going to keep going to the well, and that was kind of the story of it."
Game two takes place in San Francisco on Saturday night, with the Dodgers sending 20 game winner Julio Urias to the mound to try and even the series, while Kevin Gausman starts as the Giants look to take a stranglehold before flying south to Los Angeles.
Comments
Post a Comment