SAN FRANCISCO -- Logan Webb ended his All-Star first half on a sour note, as the Giants' ace was roughed up for a season-high seven runs over five-plus innings in a 10-6 loss to the Blue Jays on Wednesday night at Oracle Park.
Webb earned his first career All-Star selection on Sunday after recording a 3.09 ERA over a National League-high 119 1/3 innings in his first 19 starts of the year, and he appeared well on his way to keeping that dominance going after needing only 42 pitches to cruise through four scoreless innings.
But things began to unravel in the fifth, when Webb gave up a one-out single to Davis Schneider that helped set the table for Ernie Clement’s second go-ahead three-run homer of the series, which turned a 2-0 lead into a 3-2 deficit for the Giants.
“Stuff was going well, and then I got mad after the Schneider base hit,” Webb said. “It’s never a good thing to do when you’re out there. I kind of just let it snowball after that. It was just not very good.”
After Schneider and Alejandro Kirk reached on back-to-back singles, Clement went down to get a 1-2 changeup that was well below the zone and blasted it out to left field, marking only the sixth home run Webb has surrendered this year.
"It was the third straight one I threw to him in probably the same exact spot,” Webb said. “I’m surprised he hit it out, but I’m not surprised he swung at it."
“He’s nasty,” Clement said. “He’s been pretty elite for a couple of years now. I was just trying to hit the ball in the air, and I put a good swing on a pitch. It was a changeup way down in the zone. It’s got to be all of the golf I was playing lately.”
The Giants tied the game on Michael Conforto’s RBI double in the bottom of the fifth, but Webb couldn’t keep it close after that, giving up four consecutive hits to ignite a game-turning six-run rally for the Blue Jays in the sixth.
The clunker snapped Webb’s streak of 11 straight starts in which he’d completed at least six innings, the longest single-season stretch by a Giant since Madison Bumgarner (19) in 2016.
“A couple of hits and a homer can change things in a hurry,” manager Bob Melvin said. “It was vintage Webby there. We scored a couple of runs, you feel pretty good about him pitching deep in that game and finishing it out with minimal guys. The homer changed some things, and he didn’t execute pitches like he was doing earlier.”
Two defensive misplays by shortstop Brett Wisely extended the inning for Toronto, as he allowed Schneider’s 70.4 mph liner to skip past him and bounce into center field for a single and then botched a potential double play after he couldn’t make a clean exchange at second base.
Despite the rough showing, the Giants still believe Wisely is capable of taking over as the primary shortstop now that veteran Nick Ahmed has been designated for assignment.
“Wisely’s been so good at short,” Melvin said. “Every now and then you’re going to have a couple of plays or a game that doesn’t look good, but he also made some really good plays earlier in the game, some backhands and some good, strong throws. I don’t think a game or two is going to affect how we feel about it.”
One night certainly won’t change the way the Giants feel about Webb, who is expected to make his next appearance at the All-Star Game in Arlington, Texas, next Tuesday. Webb will be lined up to pitch on regular rest, so he should be available to take down an inning or two for the NL squad, though he wasn’t in the mood to look ahead following his disappointing performance on Wednesday.
“I was excited,” Webb said. “Not as excited right now, to be honest with you, but it’ll be a cool experience.”