SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants opened a crucial four-game divisional clash on the wrong foot, falling to the San Diego Padres in a 1-0 extra-inning loss Monday night at Oracle Park.
Logan Webb pitched eight shutout innings with seven strikeouts, but he received no run support from the Giants' struggling offense once again.
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SIGN UP HERE San Diego's offense also struggled, not scoring a run until the top of the 10th inning. That ended up being the only run of the game.
Just one game separated the Padres and Giants in the NL West standings heading into Monday’s series opener in San Francisco, but San Diego was able to create a little separation with three games remaining in the four-game set.
The Giants (33-27) have been one of MLB's better teams at home this season, but they dropped to 17-10 at Oracle Park.
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Here are the takeaways from Monday's loss:
No Run Support For Wonder Webb … Again
Logan Webb did Logan Webb things in his 13th start of the season, and, unfortunately for him, the Giants did Giants things.
Webb, who entered the game with a 2.82 ERA and 2.19 FIP with 84 strikeouts to 17 walks in 73.1 innings pitched over 12 starts, tossed another gem Monday night against a team he historically has dominated.
But once again, he had no run support in San Francisco’s loss.
The Giants ace has dominated the Padres over the years with a 2.76 ERA in 12 career starts.
Webb, who lowered his ERA to 2.55, has given up three earned runs or fewer in each of his starts this season.
Offensive Woes Continue
New month, same issues.
The Giants' offense continued its season-long theme Monday, and the second inning in particular summed up how things have gone for San Francisco thus far.
With the bases loaded and no outs, Willy Adames was thrown out at home after Tyler Fitzgerald grounded to third.
San Francisco then had another bases-loaded opportunity, this time with Heliot Ramos at the plate and one out.
As "Let's go, Giants!" chants broke out at Oracle Park, Ramos grounded into an inning-ending double play.
It was early, but the missed opportunity immediately felt like one that would leave a bad taste in the Giants' mouths. But not without another chance to redeem themselves.
Five innings later, Jung Hoo Lee approached the plate with an opportunity to play hero with the bases once again loaded and two outs. Instead, he struck out swinging.
The offensive woes continued in the eighth. With runners on second and third and two outs, Casey Schmitt struck out swinging and, frustrated, walked back to the dugout.
The exasperation is becoming contagious for the Giants, and patience is running out.
Tensions Rise Early
It didn’t take long for Monday’s game to perfectly display the intensity of this NL West showdown between two teams that are separated by just one game in the standings.
Things got chippy in the third inning, when Webb hit Padres catcher Elias Díaz in the top of the inning before Padres starter Stephen Kolek hit Wilmer Flores in the bottom shortly after.
Flores let Kolek know of his frustrations, yelling a few words at him before slowly and irritably walking to first.
LaMonte Wade Jr. was hit in the same hand area just one inning prior and had to exit the game shortly after. He was replaced by Schmitt.
While Kolek issued the "my bad" signal toward a fuming Flores, it was clear that Flores was fed up.
Flores' high emotions could have riled up the Giants, but it appears this offense will need much more than an impassioned Wilmer to get the job done.