At last, SF Giants string together offense, wins vs. D-backs

SAN FRANCISCO — Are they back?

Brandon Crawford tripled, J.D. Davis drove home a pair and the Giants had — what’s that? come again? — a well-rounded offensive performance for a second straight game, securing at least a split of a four-game series against the Diamondbacks with a 4-2 win on Wednesday.

Widening their advantage in the standings over Arizona (57-52) to three games, the Giants (60-49) scored four runs in consecutive games for the first time in more than two weeks. They improved to 51-13 when reaching that magic number, which they had failed to do 11 of their past 12 games before Tuesday’s 4-3 win.

So, has the offense turned a corner?

“Um, yes, sometimes,” Crawford said. “I think we still need to get better at getting guys in when they’re in scoring position with less than two outs. But Logan pitched great. He definitely kept us in it and allowed us to come back and score a few runs.”

Making his 100th career start, Logan Webb recorded his 11th consecutive quality start at home, the longest active streak in the majors. It was a true all-around effort, as Webb didn’t allow a ground-ball base hit and was backed up by a handful of stellar plays from a defense that has the best fielding percentage in the majors since the start of July.

On a rare banner night for the offense, that was what manager Gabe Kapler wanted to highlight afterward.

“I really liked our defense tonight,” Kapler said to begin his postgame session. “Obviously that’s a huge key for us when Logan Webb’s on the mound. You have to catch the ball behind him, and we did that pretty consistently throughout the game.”

Webb walked off the mound to a standing ovation after the seventh inning, limiting the D-backs to two runs on four hits.

After Arizona plated two in the first, Webb retired 18 of the final 20 hitters he faced and held the D-backs scoreless for his final six frames. Going to his changeup for 50 of his 105 pitches, Webb recorded strikeouts (five) or ground balls (12) for all but four of his outs.

Webb didn’t record a fly ball out until the last out of the fifth inning, which came on a sliding grab from Joc Pederson in left. Crawford, Isan Díaz and Luis Matos added to the defensive reel up the middle with diving stops from the infielders and a heads-up throw from Matos to end the first inning, getting Jace Peterson trying to stretch a single into two bases.

“It’s exciting obviously as a contact pitcher like me,” Webb said. “Sometimes unfortunately I give up a lot of 100-mph ground. balls. It’s just kind of the way I throw, the way I am. Those guys were pretty amazing.”

While the Giants manufactured two runs against D-backs starter Slade Cecconi, making his major-league debut, their big breakthrough came after forcing him from the game with two outs in the fifth inning. It was the Giants’ 12th time this season facing a starting pitcher within the first 10 games of his major-league career, and for the 10th time, the rookie held the Giants to three or fewer runs.

LaMonte Wade Jr. greeted reliever Tyler Gilbert with a two-out double down the right field line, and while he was stranded on second, it was only a preview of things to come. A screaming line drive from Austin Slater barely found the glove of center fielder Alek Thomas to end the inning and went down as one of three outs recorded by Gilbert while surrendering four hits and a pair of runs that allowed the Giants to open a 4-2 lead.

Davis delivered the big knock with another sharply hit line drive down the left-field line, his 15th double of the season. After Wilmer Flores, Joc Pederson and Patrick Bailey loaded the bases with three consecutive singles to start the inning, Davis attacked a first-pitch fastball and drove home two with a 109.6 mph two-bagger, the hardest-hit ball of the game.

Davis was on first after a leadoff single in the fifth when Crawford drove a fly ball to the deepest part of the ballpark and made good on its nickname as he has done now more times than anyone else in the 23-year history of the waterfront park. As the ball bounced around Triple’s Alley, Crawford hustled into third, executing a breaststroke to avoid the tag of third baseman Jace Peterson.

In four games back from a short stint on the injured list, Crawford has homered, tripled and looked like his old self on the bases and in the field.

“We’ve seen when Brandon is at his healthiest and his freshest, he’s a really good shortstop and comes up with big clutch hits for us,” Kapler said. “We’ve seen that fairly consistently for the last several years. The trick is obviously keeping that and trying not to overdo it.”

Crawford said the 11-game absence did wonders to manage the discomfort caused by inflammation in his left knee.

“It’s been feeling a lot better since coming back,” Crawford said. “It also gives me a little reset for the body, so I feel a little bit better overall.”