SAN FRANCISCO — On a night the San Francisco Giants hosted dozens of players sporting World Series rings in a celebration of their 2012 title, it was their pitcher on the mound Saturday who provided the star power.
In one of the best starts of his young career, Logan Webb dazzled for eight shutout innings to beat the Pirates 2-0.
The win was the Giants’ second in a row, clinching at least two of three in this series with Pittsburgh, and their fifth in their past seven games, after dropping five of their previous seven. It also pulled them within 6.5 games of the Padres, who lost at Washington.
Webb was aided by his defense — Joc Pederson’s catch at the left-field wall prevented extra-bases and ended the second inning, and Tommy La Stella started a slick 3-6-3 double play to finish the fourth — but also made a web gem of his own.
The play ended with Webb laying belly down on the infield dirt, smiling at Pirates second baseman Kevin Newman, whom he barely beat to first base for the final out of the third inning. La Stella, the first baseman, got caught in between going for Newman’s soft dribbler or covering the bag, so Webb did both. After picking up the ball, Webb sprinted to the bag and splayed out, laying his glove on the bag just before Newman.
In Webb’s one jam of the night, after the Pirates loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth, the Oracle Park crowd rose to its feet. It didn’t take long for the 38,049 on hand to explode once Webb fired a changeup past Ben Gamel for the third out of the inning and his ninth strikeout of the night.
Webb was given the chance earlier this season at his first complete-game shutout, after blanking the Phillies for eight innings, but surrendered a game-tying home run in the ninth. This time, the Giants let closer Camilo Doval finish off the ninth for his 17th save.
The start had extra meaning for Webb, who was facing off against former Giants first-round pick Tyler Beede, one of his best friends in baseball and the officiant of his wedding.
It didn’t take long for Beede to remind the Giants why they designated him for assignment once rosters shrunk in May. Beede issued more walks in three innings (three) than Webb did in eight (two). He needed 74 pitches to complete three innings and threw nearly half of them out of the strike zone.
By the time Beede’s night was over, the Giants had scored all the runs they needed.
For the second straight night, the offensive contributions came from a player in need of a big game.
After Mike Yastrzemski heated up with a homer and three RBIs to lead the way in Friday’s win, it was LaMonte Wade Jr. who did most of the damage Saturday night.
Wade led off the first inning with a double and traded places with Pederson to score San Francisco’s first run, then manufactured the second all by himself with a solo shot in his next at-bat that cleared the arcade in right field.
