Chapman returns to the lineup, Webb returns to Sac, Giants return to the win column
What we finally saw Saturday night was the 2025 San Francisco Giants as God intended — or at least, a line-up Grand POBO Buster Posey envisioned when he first got that wild idea to trade for Rafael Devers weeks ago.
And for all the exasperated hair-pulling since said transaction (especially in this past week and a half), the one thing that we could find some comfort in was knowing the Giants still weren’t at full strength. There was a Matt Chapman sized hole in their heart — and that heart could only become whole again when a Matt Chapman sized person filled it.
After missing 23 games on the IL with a sprained right-hand, Bob Melvin finally got to write his cornerstone into the line-up card, batting clean-up, and for the first time, behind the dangerous Devers.
Even for seasoned veterans like Chapman, the elation of returning to the field of play after a stint away is intoxicating. The first day back is an elevated sensory experience. Chapman noticing again the little things as first pitch approaches, as he goes through all his pre-game rituals, finally duds-upped in full uniform, looking up into the peach-colored sky as the sun sets and stadium lights bathe the diamond, breathing in the fresh cut grass as he takes his preparatory swings in the on-deck circle, finally digging his cleats into the batter’s box, staring back at the opposing arm, bat barrel lifted off the shoulder ready for action, eye picking up the spin of that first breaking ball snap, hearing the sizzle of the seam from a fastball as it approaches, as it approaches really fast, as it slides in, waaaayyyy in…and of course, there’s the blunt bruise of reality.
A 96 MPH sinker from Luis Severino right to the triceps — baseball’s welcome back embrace. Chapman had nowhere to go and wore the pitch like a gifted sweater from his grandmother — with a grimace. He left the box glaring back at the mound, and for a multitude of good reasons. Did he not just miss a month’s worth of games? Didn’t the Giants already go through this whole rigamarole of getting disproportionately plunked? Didn’t Heliot Ramos just get a fastball to the hand two batters ago?
Bob Melvin fumed from the dugout. This was happening all too often to his players, but there was little he could do. Mike Krukow pointed out the imbalance of these situations. MLB umpires are told to handle simmering you-hit-me, I-hit-you situations by issuing out warnings when a retaliation takes place, which basically means Severino could keep pitching inside, keep risking HBPs with little consequence because there’s no intent. But the moment Logan Webb throws at an A’s hitter in response, he gets a warning and even risks getting tossed from the game.
San Francisco’s hands were tied (and bruised) in the first. They had already tried that eye-for-an-eye, old school way of “protecting” their players against Miami. Hayden Birdsong plunked Otto Lopez with two outs in the 1st in protest of hit batters in the previous game, and the Marlins responded with a double and homer for three runs in an eventual 12-5 bruising worse than any shinburger.
The best form of revenge is to move on from the incident and live a healthy and content life… the best way to do that if you’re the Giants is to make those HBPs hurt. In other words, hit the ball, not opposing players. Severino and the rest of the league are pitching inside not only because it’s a weakness, but because as a whole, the San Francisco line-up haven’t been very good at punishing pitchers when they allow men on. To the opposing arm, a sinker too far in is worth the risk because, even if it gives up a free runner, it rarely hurts them in the long run.
Thanks to two HBPs and a walk, Severino handed the Giants a one-out, bases-loaded opportunity in the 1st inning — but in a lot of ways, the Athletics’ starter maintained control. San Francisco had just gone 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position; they were already 0-for-1 on Saturday after Devers’s fielder’s choice groundout. After he plunked Chapman, Severino threw a first pitch cutter (up and in) that jammed Jung Hoo Lee and bagged another inconsequential hitless AB. The approach was working. And in a 2-2 count to Willy Adames, Severino was on the verge of walking out of the tangle he somewhat purposefully created, offering to the rest of the league proof that this was a viable map through the top of San Francisco’s batting order.
But this time, Adames picked up his teammates. A 2-out, 2-strike, 2-RBI single is infinitely more effective retort than another fastball to the hip.
The single was San Francisco’s first hit in 13 at-bats with runners in scoring position so far in Sacramento and kickstarted an eventual 7-2 victory in support of another quality start from Rocklin’s own, Logan Webb.
Chapman’s return to the field and Webb returned home, getting to pitch in a regular season MLB game in the area he grew up in. He allowed 2 runs over 6.2 innings pitched to give him his eighth consecutive quality start.
It wasn’t a dominant outing, but a gutsy one we’ve come to expect from our ace. Athletics hitters managed 7 hits off the right-hander, including five doubles, but Webb did well to limit the effectiveness of those extra-base knocks (in direct contrast to Verlander’s performance on Friday).
In the 2nd, hefty lefty Nick Kurtz drove a first pitch sweeper 384 feet off the right-center wall for a lead-off double. That hard contact was followed by weak contact, a swinging bunt from Shea Langeliers that put runners on the corners and nobody out. Webb didn’t allow the stress to percolate though, with a 2-run lead he attacked Tyler Soderstrom with a perfect up-and-in cutter that produced a routine 4-6-3 double play. Two outs for a run — a solid trade that kept Webb in rhythm, efficient with his pitch counts and allowed him to cruise through the middle innings as the offense padded the lead in support.
Webb lost the groove a bit in the 6th. Lawrence Butler led off the frame with a double and advanced to third on a ground out. Even in a 7-1 ballgame, Webb approached opposing hitters like he was tasked with protecting a one-run lead. He’s had plenty of experience doing that, and maybe that kind of mentality helps keep his edge. I’d imagine in front of a whole heap of friends and family, taking the mound in his old stomping grounds, Webb just wanted to dominate. He chose to pitch carefully to Brent Rooker, which led to the first free base handed out by the right-hander, but also set up the potential for an inning-ending double play.
Solid thinking in theory, and Webb even executed the ideal pitch to produce a ground ball. A heavy change-up well below the knees, most hitters would’ve rolled that pitch into the defense even if Webb told them beforehand it was coming. Credit to Kurtz, who in an 0-2 hole, not only knew the offspeed was immenient but was able to do something with it, digging it out for an RBI double, setting up the A’s their first real rally opportunity of the night.
Webb buckled down. Not wanting to give anything over the plate or inside that Langeliers could damage, he kept everything away, and ultimately walked the A’s catcher with a 3-2 sweeper. More runners on, bases loaded — Webb was living dangerously. Any solid contact in the gap could easily sink a solid outing and change the entire complexion of the game — but with the force now in play too, the right kind of pitch producing the right kind of ball-in-play could also whisk Webb away from trouble.
Tyler Soderstrom rolled into a double-play in the 2nd, and in the 6th, on the sixth pitch of the at-bat, he did it again.
4 – 6 – 3.
Emboldened, Webb came out for the 7th and whiffed the first two he faced on change-ups (5 of his 6 Ks came on swings over the off-speed), but Denzel Clarke doubled and Butler took a 3-2 backdoor sweeper that didn’t quite break enough to catch the outside edge. The 108th pitch of the night couldn’t produce the storybook ending Webb hoped for, but it didn’t matter. Randy Rodríguez closed out the frame with a pop up off the bat of All-Star Jacob Wilson, closing the book on another stellar outing.
A much needed well-rounded game by the Giants after the embarrassing display on Friday. The bullpen handled the final seven A’s batters with a-plumb, and the offense with a solo shot from Ramos and 2-RBI double from Brett Wisely, kept adding on to their early lead.
Adames stood out most of all, collecting three singles and four RBIs (his most in a Giants uniform) hitting out of the sixth spot. After his tone-setting knock in the 1st, he struck again in the 3rd, with another 2-out, 2-strike, 2-RBI hit off Severino after Chapman and Lee kept the inning alive with back-to-back singles.
Since taking that rejuvenating off-day after a batting average low point of .193 on June 7th, Adames is hitting .318 with a team leading 16 RBIs (85 AB, 100 PA). So far in early July, he’s batting .474. There’s no early season or weather-related excuses anymore. It’s July. It’s hot out, and it’s time for Adames to groove. His defense numbers are up, the swing is locked in. He’s probably (hopefully) going to get a lot more RBI opportunities batting in the fifth and sixth spots now that Chapman is back in the fold. And if he keeps clearing the bases, keeps having his teammates’ backs on the field just like he gets their helmets at the top step of the dugout, this line-up might actually be…dare I say it?…functional.