BOX SCORE
SAN FRANCISCO — Through the first month of the season, Logan Webb has already faced Hunter Greene (twice), Carlos Rodón, Tyler Anderson and Freddy Peralta. That’s just part of being the Opening Day starter, but so far the difficult slate is working out well for Webb and the Giants.
The staff ace threw 6 1/3 shutout innings Wednesday, outdueling and outlasting Peralta, who entered as one of the league’s ERA leaders, to pick up his third win of the season. With a 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, the Giants improved to 4-2 in games started by Webb and 7-6 during this stretch of 17 consecutive games.
Webb didn’t need much help, but Mike Yastrzemski provided a boost in the top of the sixth by making a perfect throw from right to nail William Contreras at third and keep the Brewers from having runners on the corners with one out in a scoreless game. In the bottom of the inning, the Giants broke through for four runs, and they ended up needing that big frame.
Ryan Walker came on in a non-save situation and again struggled to put hitters away. After two singles, a hit-by-pitch and a double, Walker was pulled for Camilo Doval, who struck out Jackson Chourio and then got Christian Yelich to ground out to pick up his fourth save of the year.
Walker has given up six earned runs in his last two outings after going 15-for-15 previously in save opportunities. The struggles have come out of nowhere and might lead to a change in the ninth far sooner than anyone could have expected.
Here are the takeaways as the Giants improve to 16-9 this season:
Mr. 200?
Webb said at the end of camp that he would like this to be the year he wins his first Cy Young. He also said he would like to finally join the 200-strikeout club, and that one is starting to look like a lock if he stays healthy.
Webb struck out six on Wednesday to get to 44 through six starts, putting him on pace for about 240 over a full season. His previous career-high is 194 and he has only one previous season with an average of even one strikeout per inning. He currently ranks third in the NL in strikeouts and, as always, he is among the league leaders in innings pitched. Only Zack Wheeler currently ranks ahead of him there.
Put those two numbers together with an ERA that dipped to 1.98 and Webb is among the early favorites for the Cy Young, which is no surprise. He currently ranks fifth in the NL in ERA behind Yoshinobu Yamamot, Nick Pivetta, Mitchell Parker and Andrew Heaney.
Mr. 100?
Wilmer Flores has just one season in his career with more than 60 RBI, and his career-high is 71, set in 2022. At the moment, he’s on pace to more than double that total.
Flores bounced a single up the middle and off shortstop Joey Ortiz’s glove in the sixth and two runs scored easily, getting him to 27 RBI, the most in the big leagues. He’s one ahead of a couple of New York sluggers, Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso. The hit came after singles by Willy Adames and Jung Hoo Lee and a walk by Matt Chapman, and it ignited a four-run rally.
Going For Gold, And Then Platinum
Chapman and Patrick Bailey are coming off Gold Glove seasons, and both look like they’ll win again this year. There’s a level beyond gold, though, and last year’s Platinum Glove winner is in this series, too.
Brewers second baseman Brice Turang got the honor of being named the best defender in the NL last year, but he has had a rough three days in San Francisco. Turang had two balls bounce off his glove Monday, although he recovered both times to avoid errors.
In the sixth Wednesday, Turang couldn’t glove a double-play ball from LaMonte Wade Jr., and the Giants piled on. The error allowed a run to score and the Giants made it a four-run inning when Ortiz made a wide throw on a bouncer up the middle from Christian Koss.
Turang led all big leaguers with 22 Defensive Runs Saved last season but he was at negative one coming into Wednesday’s game. Chapman is currently at three DRS, which is tied for third in the NL behind Tommy Pham (six) and Pete Crow-Armstrong (four).
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