HOUSTON -- For three days, Giants players, coaches and manager Gabe Kapler have tried to find polite ways to point out the discomfort some have been in since returning from Mexico City. In the afterglow of a series win over the defending champion Houston Astros, Logan Webb decided it was well past time to just lay it all out there.
"It's been a mental grind, it's been a physical grind. I think three-quarters of our clubhouse has the s--ts," Webb said. "It's been a mental and physical grind. It'll be good to get back home, for sure. Hopefully the s--ts go away."
Given that, uhh, knowledge, the past two games might go down as two of the best of the year. The Giants showed some serious intestinal fortitude, riding their ace to a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros that followed an impressive shutout.
It was 72 hours of Imodium, Pepto Bismol and rest for many in the traveling party, but the true cure to the team's woes turned out to be a familiar one. The Giants are built on starting pitching, and when Webb, Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Cobb are throwing this way, they should be able to compete with just about anybody.
A day after DeSclafani hurled eight shutout innings, Webb took the same path into the eighth. He gave up a two-run homer to Alex Bregman, but Camilo Doval picked up his second straight save to clinch the happy flight.
"That's how we're going to win," catcher Joey Bart said. "If we pitch well, we're going to win."
The Giants will need to keep following this path, because the road trip confirmed what much of April showed. There's really no other way for them.
San Francisco Giants
The lineup's depth is not what they hoped, particularly with key bats like Michael Conforto (.652 OPS) and David Villar (batting .145) struggling to get going. The bullpen has been one of the worst in the league, and while Kapler's hands were somewhat tied in this series by the condition that Webb so helpfully described, it still stood out that he stuck with Webb so deep into the eighth on Wednesday.
Webb had pitched brilliantly after two defensive mistakes behind him led to a high early count, needing just 46 pitches to get from the end of the second to the beginning of the eighth. In the seventh, Webb had given up some hard contact, and the eighth started with two reaching base ahead of Mauricio Dubon, who got a hanging changeup but hit his friend's pitch into the dirt for a double play. Kapler stuck with Webb for one more batter and Bregman put a dent in his line with a two-run homer.
"Almost always, Logan Webb is going to be the best option," the manager said. "There are times when he's bumping up against his pitch count or just physically out of gas, but I didn't think that was the case there. Collectively I think we're going to need to depend on Webby in those big moments."
The Giants had hoped to have a dominant one-two punch at the ends of games, but it hasn't developed yet. They're still waiting for a lot to come together, but strong starting pitching can calm any stomach. At 3.80, Webb has by far the highest ERA of the trio atop the rotation, but he's trending in the right direction and has generally pitched better than his numbers.
The outing was his third straight of at least 6 2/3 innings, and he has allowed exactly two runs in all three. Cobb pitched a shutout last week and will take a 2.43 ERA into his next start. DeSclafani got down to 2.13 with his appearance on Tuesday. All three rank among the league leaders in walk rate.
This trip was a reminder of where the roster's strength lies, and the Giants hope to ride it moving forward. Their stretch of 2 1/2 weeks against preseason contenders is almost over and they've managed to tread water, even while fighting off the effects of some actual water.
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On Wednesday afternoon, a happy clubhouse was full of relieved faces. The Giants have a big off day coming, and they'll head into it with some momentum thanks to the staff ace.
"Our pitching dominated, our two starting pitchers gave us a real chance," Bart said of the last two wins. "When they're throwing the ball like that, we're going to be in good shape."