What we learned as Webb gets no support in another Giants' loss

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SAN FRANCISCO -- A year after they won 107 games, the Giants hit the halfway point of their season on pace for just 82 victories. 

They had two hits in 10 innings Thursday night at Petco Park, losing 2-1 to the San Diego Padres. The loss was the 13th in the last 17 games.

The Giants had just one hit through eight and left a runner on second in the sixth and the eighth, but they caught a break in the ninth. Padres closer Taylor Rogers went 0-2 on Austin Slater but then grazed his foot with an inside pitch. Slater, who is 36-for-39 in his career on the bases, swiped second and scored the tying run when Brandon Crawford yanked a single into right with two outs. 

Mauricio Llovera had a very impressive bottom of the ninth to get the game to extras, but the Giants couldn't advance their free baserunner in the top of the 10th. 

In the bottom of the inning, they intentionally walked Austin Nola to give Jarlin Garcia a better matchup against Trent Grisham, but Garcia hesitated on Grisham's sac bunt attempt and didn't record an out. With the bases loaded, Jorge Alfaro hit a long single to the track that ended the game. 

Exactly What They Needed

The Giants made a bullpen move before the game, putting Jose Alvarez back on the IL with left elbow inflammation and recalling Zack Littell, but they needed more than one fresh arm. Camilo Doval and Dom Leone were off-limits and there were several others Gabe Kapler surely wanted to avoid if he could, so the Giants needed Logan Webb to go deep and he certainly delivered.

Webb made just one mistake, a changeup that Manny Machado demolished, but he mostly kept the ball on the ground and zoomed through innings. Webb was charged with just one run on six hits. 

He lowered his ERA to 2.98, and while it seems unlikely that he's named an All-Star in the initial round of selections, there are always a few spots open for pitchers replacing guys who didn't want to or couldn't pitch in the actual game. Webb is making a strong case to be picked at some point. 

Rare Sight

Webb was already up above 90 pitches after seven but he went back out for the eighth and got a flyout, groundout and strikeout. 

The Giants have had just four games this season in which the starting pitcher completed eight innings and Webb has three of them, with Carlos Rodón getting the other one. This might have been the one that was best-timed, as the Giants have a bullpen game scheduled for Friday night. 

Slow Starters

A day after it took until the top of the fifth for the first hit, the Giants had nothing going against Joe Musgrove -- who threw a no-hitter last year -- until the sixth. 

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LaMonte Wade Jr. crushed a leadoff double off the top of the wall in right-center that would have been out of 21 ballparks, but the Giants couldn't take advantage. Joc Pederson popped up, Brandon Belt lined into a fielder's choice and Mike Yastrzemski struck out. 

A lot of Giants have been slumping lately but Yastrzemski has had a particularly tough time. He's 8-for-70 over his past 21 games. 

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