The San Francisco Giants improved to 7-2 in Cactus League play with a 9-1 win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday.
Logan Webb’s second start of Spring, and last before he joins Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, went without any major hiccups. The veteran allowed one run on two hits and a hit batter while breaking the seal on the third inning for San Francisco’s starters. 38 pitches was all he needed to record nine outs and establish his quartet of pitch offerings.
A high-and-tight sinker to lead-off man Jase Bowen got the afternoon off on the wrong foot, and a hanging sweeper to Ty France aided San Diego’s first run, but at no point did Webb seem to be grappling for comfort or control. The necessary tweaks were made for the breaking ball. He filled up the zone, painted corners, tallying 10 called strikes and five whiffs on 17 swings (29%).
The only other hit Webb allowed was a leadoff bloop in shallow left that Willy Adames should’ve caught. The defense got better after that. Patrick Bailey requested a reexamination of a misunderstood cutter, earning Webb his third backwards-K of the day. Matt Chapman subdued a hard-hit one-hopper before starting an inning-ending double play. Some loud contact ultimately didn’t leave the infield in the 3rd to end Webb’s afternoon.
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J.T. Brubaker handed in two scoreless innings with his hard-slider collecting a trio of swinging strike-threes. Tristan Beck faced the most stress of any arm in the 6th. A single, triple and hit batter didn’t add up to a Padre run thanks to backstop Daniel Susac nabbing the speedy Bryce Johnson attempting to steal second, and Beck getting infielder Sung-Mun Song swinging with an elevated four-seamer.
Though most of San Diego’s main offensive threats didn’t make the trip from Peoria, the Giants arms put in a solid display of no-nonsense pitching.
For the bats, it was all sorts of nonsense. The good kind. Up and down the order, starting and second-string, the bats put on a display of loud contact, balls in play, opposite field approaches.
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The lineup recorded 14 hits against 5 strikeouts. They went 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position, while seven different hitters collected an RBI. Willy Adames and Grant McCray both stole a base, and multiple hit-and-runs were executed successfully. Small ball!
Casey Schmitt went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, and a 105 MPH lineout to center. Matt Chapman and his infield replacement, Oslevis Basabe, both doubled, and Basabe also singled an eye-fastball fastball in the 8th.
Victor Bericoto, the hottest bat in camp, pinch hit for McCray in the 6th and promptly socked a 111 MPH RBI single to left. He’d rip another two frames later. The minor league outfielder is now 7-for-13 in 6 games, and his nine RBIs are tied for most in all of Spring Training so far.
All in all, the San Francisco offense is buzzing. Their 68 runs and 104 hits in 9 games are third most in the league (most teams have played at least 10 games as well), while their .323 average and .387 OBP are high marks, and their .887 team OPS is tied for second.
The teams populating the tops of the statistical rankings along with our Giants? The Diamondbacks…the White Sox…the Rockies. Yeah, that’s a pretty dubious bunch and a good reminder that we just witnessed a week-and-a-half of weird, heavily-caveated baseball. As much as it feels good to bask in this kind of hitting, don’t let the desert sun fool you. The heat will play its tricks.
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