It was a tale of two aces as the Giants began a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Monday at Wrigley Field.
But when all was said and done, Logan Webb lost the pitcher’s duel to Justin Steele in San Francisco’s 5-0 loss.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Webb entered the Labor Day matchup with an MLB-worst 3.14 runs per nine innings of support from the Giants’ lineup so far this season, and the trend continued Monday.
The Giants were held to just two hits in the loss, making Webb’s seldom mistakes on the day all the more consequential.
The right-hander had Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki down to his last strike in the bottom of the second inning but couldn’t sit him down, with Suzuki smashing a 432-foot home run over the center-field wall to give Chicago a 1-0 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
And with two strikes again in the seventh, Suzuki got the best of Webb with a one-out RBI double. Suzuki then scored on a single by Yan Gomes two batters later, giving Chicago a 3-0 advantage and ending Webb’s day.
San Francisco Giants
The Cubs were able to tack on two more runs after Tristan Beck came in to relieve Webb. Dansby Swanson doubled in the bottom of the eighth, bringing Mike Tauchman in to score, and then Cody Bellinger scored on a fielder's choice to end the inning.
Webb was phenomenal Monday through six innings, other than the homer. But after his seventh-inning struggles, Webb finished his outing having surrendered five hits across 6 2/3 while striking out four and walking only one.
Unfortunately for San Francisco, Steele was nearly perfect and had his most potent stuff working Monday. The Cubs southpaw struck out a career-high 12 Giants in eight innings of work and surrendered just two hits -- a second-inning single off the bat of Casey Schmitt, and another from Paul DeJong in the eighth.
The Giants’ latest loss comes at a time where they can’t afford many. They entered Monday’s game in a four-way tie for the third and final NL wild-card spot, with Chicago holding on strong at No. 2. After Monday's loss, the Giants now are .5 games back of No. 3.
San Francisco will look to get back on track Tuesday as their series against the Cubs continues.