Webb 'building a really good case' for second All-Star nod

SAN FRANCISCO -- Logan Webb has turned himself into a perennial Cy Young candidate with his steady excellence on the mound for the Giants. It should come as no surprise that he’s starting to look like a perennial All-Star as well.

One year after collecting his first career All-Star nod, Webb appears to be putting himself in prime position to earn his second straight trip to the Midsummer Classic.

The ace right-hander delivered his sixth consecutive quality start on Wednesday night, though he didn’t end up factoring into the decision after the Giants fell, 8-5, to the Marlins in 10 innings at Oracle Park.

Webb allowed two runs on six hits over six innings, but he didn’t get enough help from his offense, which mustered only three hits against Marlins starter Edward Cabrera. The Giants trailed, 4-2, heading into the bottom of the ninth, but they managed to rally against Calvin Faucher, who hit Dominic Smith and Casey Schmitt and then walked Jung Hoo Lee to load the bases with no outs.

Willy Adames nearly came through with a walk-off grand slam, but he had to settle for a sacrifice fly after his 360-foot drive fell just in front of the left-field wall. Patrick Bailey tied the game with an RBI single to left field, but Lee -- the potential game-winning run -- was thrown out at the plate following another aggressive send from third-base coach Matt Williams.

“Look, we’re trying to win a game there,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Give them credit. It wasn’t that hit that deep and [left fielder Kyle Stowers] charged hard to get it. He had to get it perfectly and make a good throw.

“We had three hits or whatever going into that inning. To be able to put some quality at-bats against their closer -- we’ve done it a lot this year, we just couldn’t finish it off.”

The Marlins pulled away for good with a four-run rally against closer Camilo Doval in the top of the 10th, sealing a series win over the Giants (44-36), who have now lost seven of their last 10 games.

Even with the addition of star slugger Rafael Devers, the Giants have had issues consistently scoring runs this year, but they’ve managed to stay competitive thanks to the reliable production of their pitching staff, which is anchored by Webb.

The 28-year-old leads National League starters with 107 1/3 innings and is tied for second with a 2.52 ERA. After recapturing his signature changeup and making better use of his cutter and four-seam fastball, Webb’s also enjoyed one of the biggest jumps in strikeout rate in the Majors. He entered Wednesday averaging 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings, up from 7.6 in 2024.

After punching out six on Wednesday, Webb ranks third in the NL with 120 strikeouts, which should only further bolster his All-Star candidacy heading into Selection Sunday on July 6.

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“I think he’s building a really good case for himself this year,” Melvin said. “The strikeouts are at a different level now, too. It’s always been the innings, and now all of a sudden there’s the strikeouts as well. I think he’s building a nice case for himself.”

Mike Yastrzemski opened the scoring with his sixth career leadoff home run, hammering Cabrera’s third pitch of the game over the right-field wall to give the Giants an early lead. It was Yastrzemski’s seventh long ball of the year and his second in the last three games.

Miami briefly pulled ahead behind former Giant Otto Lopez’s two-run double off Webb in the top of the fourth, but San Francisco managed to tie the game on Christian Koss’ sacrifice fly in the following inning.

Webb departed after throwing 102 pitches, but he wasn’t entirely satisfied with his performance, particularly since he uncharacteristically issued three walks on Wednesday.

The Marlins seized a 4-2 lead after coming back to score two runs off Tyler Rogers in the eighth, though the Giants managed to make it interesting with their late rally in the ninth. The defeat ended up being extra painful due to Faucher’s hit-by-pitch against Schmitt, who was shaken up after taking a 95.2 mph sinker off his left wrist.

Schmitt, who has been filling in for the injured Matt Chapman at third base, initially stayed in the game, but the Giants had Brett Wisely ready to pinch-hit for him if his spot came up in the bottom of the 10th. X-rays came back negative after the game, but Schmitt is expected to be re-evaluated prior to Thursday’s series finale.

“It seems like here recently, we’ve been getting hit by some pitches, and some of our key guys, so that doesn’t feel too good,” Melvin said.