The San Francisco Giants put on a performance worth celebrating Sunday afternoon, riding the arm and bat of right-hander Logan Webb to an 11-4 shellacking of the visiting San Diego Padres to wrap up the National League West crown.
With a franchise-record and major-league-leading 107 wins, the Giants (107-55) earned the home-field advantage through the NL playoffs, which for them will begin at home on Friday in Game 1 of the NL Division Series against the winner of Wednesday’s NL wild-card game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Webb (11-3) ran his unbeaten streak to 20 straight starts, limiting the Padres to four runs and six hits in seven-plus innings. He struck out eight and did not issue a walk.
Before the Padres put up three runs against Webb and the San Francisco bullpen in the eighth, the Giants led 11-1, prompting the champagne bottles to be moved from boxes to ice chests.
Webb, who opened the game with a .093 batting average, hit a one-out single in a two-run third inning that opened the scoring. Buster Posey’s two-out single drove in the runs.
Padres starter Reiss Knehr (1-2) was pulled after three innings, charged with two runs on three hits. He walked two and struck out two.
After a Manny Machado sacrifice fly cut San Francisco’s lead in half in the top of the fourth, the Giants broke the game open in the bottom of the inning.
Webb drew the third walk of the inning, loading the bases with one out. Wilmer Flores had the big hit in what turned into a five-run uprising, a two-run double, before Posey recorded his third RBI with a single.
Webb’s homer, the first of his career, made it 9-1 in the fifth, and Mike Yastrzemski’s two-run double created a 10-run margin in the seventh.
Webb was pulled after allowing singles to the first three batters in the eighth. Those runners all scored and were charged to the starter. Victor Caratini and Trent Grisham had RBI singles, and Jake Cronenworth added a sacrifice fly.
Webb finished 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs and three runs scored.
Flores collected two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored, while Kris Bryant scored three times for the Giants, whose 107 wins bettered the previous franchise record of 106 set by the New York Giants in 1904.
Grisham had two hits for the Padres (79-83), who finished with a losing record for the 10th straight full season.
NL Most Valuable Player candidate Fernando Tatis Jr. went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, finishing the year at .282 with 42 homers and 97 RBIs.
–Field Level Media
