SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants misplaced extra video games to the Dodgers in 2022 than any season because the groups moved west. They had been outscored 99-51. In the event that they hoped to fare higher in 2023, that quest began Monday evening, and who higher to be on the mound than employees ace Logan Webb?
However this season’s first installment of the Giants-Dodgers rivalry solely introduced extra of the identical.
Julio Urías mystified and Max Muncy mashed, as Giants had been performed in by their oldest nemeses in a 9-1 loss to the Dodgers.
Outdueling Webb for six innings, the Giants’ solely injury off Urías got here on a towering Wilmer Flores solo shot to left discipline. With one run on 4 hits over six innings, Urías truly elevated his ERA in opposition to the Giants courting again to the beginning of final season to 1.00 over six begins.
With a three-run shot off Webb and a seventh-inning grand slam that sealed the loss, Muncy was accountable for seven of the Dodgers’ 9 runs, managing to discover a new career-high to set in opposition to a Giants staff that he has victimized for six years now.
“He’s definitely had his ups and downs however he’s all the time harmful,” Kapler stated. “It’s not gonna shock us to see him do injury. To ensure that us to win in opposition to his staff, we’re gonna should keep away from large innings and injury like we noticed tonight.”
Muncy’s grand slam prolonged the Dodgers’ result in 9-1, after he made it 4-0 along with his first homer within the third. His third-inning homer was the second allowed by Webb, after Mookie Betts led off the sport with a line-drive shot to left-center.
In three begins, Webb has now surrendered 4 residence runs, greater than a 3rd of his whole in 2023 (11). Simply as soon as in 32 begins final season did Webb permit a number of residence runs, and courting again to the beginning of 2021, no pitcher had surrendered fewer at his residence ballpark.
After serving up two extra Monday, Webb has allowed a number of homers in two of his three begins this season. And he now not holds the title of least homer inclined at residence, which now belongs to rotation-mate Alex Cobb (with seven, a quantity he'll placed on the road in Wednesday’s collection finale).
Whereas Kapler famous that Webb’s command “hasn’t been excellent” and that groups are elevating in opposition to his sinker extra, there’s nothing Kapler see as “problematic long run.” Along with the 4 runs, six hits and two homers, Webb struck out six and walked just one and recorded a uncommon 95-mph studying on the radar gun.
“What I see from Logan is a man that’s getting swings and misses and never strolling guys,” Kapler stated. “This can be a good sign early within the 12 months that he’s popping out throwing 94. Clearly to ensure that us to beat a staff just like the Dodgers, he must be nice and he wasn’t at his greatest tonight.”
Threatening with the bases loaded and no outs in opposition to reliever Alex Vesia within the seventh, the Giants proceeded to strike out twice earlier than Flores flew out to proper to finish the inning with no run. After 10 video games, they've struck out 115 occasions — 13 extra on Monday — and have fanned extra occasions to start out the season than all however two groups in MLB historical past.
“We’re chasing just a little bit greater than we have to so as to be an awesome offensive staff,” Kapler stated. “A ten-game pattern, it’s simply not sufficient to get bent out of practice or leap to any conclusions. We now have to play higher baseball, we've to swing the bat higher, nevertheless it’s definitely not a purpose for us to dramatically change course with our method.”
Few gamers have tormented the Giants to the diploma of Muncy lately. In actual fact, it's important to look again additional than earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic to seek out the final Giants-Dodgers sport at Oracle Park that didn’t function the Los Angeles third baseman on base. So regardless of a sluggish begin to 2023 — taking a .121 common and a league-leading 16 strikeouts into Monday’s contest — Muncy used the Dodgers’ go to to the Giants’ waterfront ballpark as a little bit of a slump-buster.
Muncy walked within the first, extending his on-base streak at Oracle Park to twenty-eight video games, however did his actual injury in his ensuing journeys to the plate. With two on and two outs within the third, after Webb muffed a possible inning-ending double-play ball from Freddie Freeman, Muncy whacked the third straight slider he noticed from Webb into the Giants’ bullpen for his first homer. He stepped in once more with two outs in opposition to Hjelle, this time with the bases loaded, and lofted a first-pitch fastball past the left-field wall, his second homer of the night and the twenty third of his profession in opposition to the Giants.
Webb stated Freeman’s sluggish curler — with an exit velocity of 59 mph — was “100% a play I must make.” If he had fielded it cleanly, it might have began an inning-ending double play, nevertheless it glanced off his glove towards Brandon Crawford, who threw huge to first base, and arrange Muncy’s three-run homer.
Calling his personal sport, Webb stated he regretted going again to the slider in opposition to Muncy.
The house run points which have plagued him his first three begins, although, he chalked as much as too many mistake pitches.
“Only a horse (expletive) job by me,” Webb stated.
Betts had Webb’s quantity previous to Monday evening, taking a .435 profession common (common and postseason) into the sport, however his résumé was lacking one thing: a house run. He took care of that on Webb’s fifth pitch of the sport, sending a 2-2 sinker that crossed the low, inside portion of the plate on a line-drive trajectory into the left-center discipline seats. Including a single within the third, Betts completed the sport 12-for-26 (.462) all-time in opposition to Webb, extra hits off the Giants’ ace than some other participant within the majors.
Muncy’s 23 residence runs, 50 RBIs and 49 runs scored in opposition to the Giants are probably the most of any participant since 2018.
Webb fell to 0-3, and his ERA sits at 6.35 after three begins. He has dropped three consecutive choices just one different time in his profession (Aug. 18-30, 2022) and has by no means misplaced 4 begins in a row.
In six profession common season begins in opposition to the Dodgers at Oracle Park, Webb has but to win a call and has a 7.15 ERA. In the meantime, the Giants have overwhelmed Urías solely as soon as of their previous six occasions going through him.
