Webb on lack of run support: 'That’s just part of baseball'

SAN FRANCISCO -- Logan Webb did his part to keep the Giants’ run of impressive pitching performances going, but he found himself saddled with a tough-luck loss following the continued lack of run support from his offense.

Webb delivered his 19th quality start of the year -- tied with Yankees ace Gerrit Cole for the most in the Majors -- but the Giants couldn’t finish off a three-game sweep after their bats mustered only four hits in a 4-1 loss to the Reds on a balmy Wednesday afternoon at Oracle Park.

Webb gave up two runs on seven hits over six innings, but he was outdueled by Cincinnati right-hander Hunter Greene, who was charged with one unearned run on three hits over 5 1/3 innings. Webb, who is winless since Aug. 2, has received two or fewer runs of support in 18 of his 28 starts and ranks last in the Majors with a 3.14 run support average this year.

“Because he’s kind of the leader of our staff in a lot of ways and a guy that we’re going to be depending on, we really do want to score some runs for him,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “Obviously, that doesn’t come when you press for it and try harder for it. We’ll get him ready for the next time out and try to score some more runs for him then. If he just continues to throw up a lot of zeros, I think he’ll get rewarded for it long term.”

Despite the loss, the Giants (69-64) still came away with their first series victory since taking three of four from the D-backs from July 31-Aug. 3 and claimed the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Reds by winning the season series, 4-3. San Francisco finished the day a half-game ahead of Arizona (69-65) for the third National League Wild Card spot, after the D-backs' loss at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night.

Webb and Greene matched each other with five scoreless innings before the Reds finally broke the stalemate in the sixth. Spencer Steer and Elly De La Cruz led off with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners, and then Steer scored on a successful double steal off Webb and catcher Patrick Bailey. Christian Encarnacion-Strand, a Walnut Creek, Calif., native, followed with an RBI single to left and added a two-run shot off Tyler Rogers in the eighth to extend the Reds’ lead to 4-1.

The Giants scored their lone run on an errant pickoff attempt by Reds reliever Ian Gibaut in the sixth.

“That’s just part of baseball,” Webb said. “As a pitcher, if it’s a 0-0 game, you’ve got to keep it at 0-0. It’s more my fault than anything. I was lucky enough to get to hit for a year and a half. It’s not easy. There’s no faulting those guys. Those guys are going out there and trying to do their best. Knowing it’s a 0-0 game, I’ve just got to do better.”

The Giants will aim to turn the page as they jet to San Diego to kick off a four-game series against the underachieving Padres on Thursday. They’ll hit the road with a bit of momentum now that their rotation seems to be finding its stride following the recent contributions of rookies Tristan Beck and Kyle Harrison and Alex Cobb’s complete-game one-hitter on Tuesday.

Webb and Cobb have been the only traditional starters in the Giants’ rotation for months, forcing them to rely heavily on openers and bulk-inning types, but Harrison appears here to stay after striking out 11 over 6 1/3 innings in his electric home debut on Monday.

Beck also impressed by holding the MLB-best Braves to three runs over 4 1/3 innings in his first Major League start on Sunday, though the Giants haven’t committed to keeping him in the rotation just yet.

“I think we’re just going to examine what’s best for Tristan at every turn,” Kapler said. “It might be that the best thing for Tristan is to go out and start games and kind of stick in the rotation that way. It might be that shorter bursts a couple of times a week makes more sense. This isn’t just in the spirit of preserving optionality. I think it’s just kind of examining the situation as much as we can.”

Thanks to Harrison, Cobb and Webb, the Giants have now had three starters work at least six innings in consecutive games for the first time since April 7-10.

“That’s the beautiful thing about having a group of starters,” Cobb said. “You feed off each other and there’s a friendly competition of trying to one-up each other.”