Reunion gets Giants pumped about possibilities

SAN FRANCISCO -- Oracle Park was awash with nostalgia as the Giants commemorated the team's improbable run to the 2012 World Series title. And perhaps some of the positive energy from that magical campaign was around on Saturday night, as the ballpark was rocking while the Giants cruised to a series win over the visiting Pirates.

But then again, Giants right-hander Logan Webb supplied all the necessary electricity -- and then some -- to shut down the Pirates 2-0. The 25-year-old was nails, twirling eight shutout innings en route to his 11th win of the season.

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"I thought he was especially efficient tonight," manager Gabe Kapler said. "He obviously got some weak contact early in counts that enabled him to keep a relatively under-control pitch count all the way through the end of the game. … It was excellent."

Webb was lights-out on the mound, striking out nine Pirates batters, but one of his finest moments came in the field. In the top of the third inning, the Giants righty allowed his first baserunner of the game, giving up a leadoff double to Pirates third baseman Rodolfo Castro. Webb retired the next two batters, though Castro moved over to third on a groundout.

Webb then dug in to face second baseman Kevin Newman at the top of the Pirates' order. Newman hit a weak grounder to Webb, who scrambled after the ball as it rolled slowly through the infield. Webb fielded the ball cleanly -- but he found no one at first base.

So Webb took the ball himself, diving to first and narrowly beating Newman to get the forceout and prevent Castro from scoring.

"I think it was me just kind of falling down, and then I just put my glove out there," Webb said. "It was just one of those awkward plays where you just have to do something in the moment. When I looked over there, there was no one there. I was already going down, so it was just kind of easy putting the glove out there."

"Very athletic play, clutch play as well," added LaMonte Wade Jr., who went 2-for-3 with a home run and scored both of San Francisco's runs. "It's a tough no-man's-land baseball; it's kind of hard for the first baseman to figure out if he's going to get it or not. He stepped up, and got it, and made a great play."

Webb kept rolling from there, facing only three batters over the minimum until the eighth inning. Up to that point, he had not walked a batter. But Webb's command began to wane, as he loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the eighth on a double and two free passes.

The rally was over in an instant, as Webb struck out Pittsburgh's Ben Gamel on four pitches. Many of the fans at Oracle Park had gotten to their feet once Webb had worked a 1-2 count, and the home crowd let loose a deafening roar as he strode off the mound.

"They were loud," Wade said, "really behind us the whole game. Electric, and we definitely feed off of it. I appreciate them for sure."

The postseason was on the mind of players and fans alike on Saturday night, due in part to the 2012 World Series team reunion. The championship team and the current squad are in vastly different positions, 10 years apart: The 2012 Giants were nine games over .500 and tied for first place in the NL West 113 games into the season, whereas the '22 Giants sit one game below .500 and have been stuck in third place in the division for most of the season. A Wild Card berth is still well within reach, but the Giants will have to bounce back from their sluggish 8-14 start to the second half.

The Giants have plenty of ground to make up in order to get back to the playoffs, but Saturday night gave them a taste of the early 2010s dynasty teams' postseason magic. They want more where that came from.

"It's not very often you get to have that kind of energy," Webb said. "It was awesome. It was really fun to have. … Hopefully, we start playing a little bit better baseball so we can get that more often."