SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS NOTES:
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!: The Giants and Dodgers play the final game of this three-game series, with SF seeking their fourth sweep of the season…the Giants enter today having won a season-high six-straight games and nine of their last 11…they’re just 0.5 game behind the Dodgers for second place in the NL West and 4.5 games behind the first-place Diamondbacks.
DOESN’T HAPPEN VERY OFTEN: A win today and the Giants would secure their first sweep at Dodger Stadium in a series of three-or-more games since August 20-22, 2012…in fact, the Giants have only swept the Dodgers in a series of three-or-more games here at Dodger Stadium just five times since moving West in 1958
15 RUNS IN 2 HOURS AND 27 MINUTES: The Giants’ 15-0 victory last night was their second-largest shutout win over the Dodgers in the history of the rivalry behind a 16-0 win on July 3, 1949 at the Polo Grounds…according to ESPN Stats & Info, it was the Dodgers’ largest home shutout loss in 125 years…on September 20, 1898, the Pirates won 15-0 at New Washington Park against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
FROM THE TOP AND THE BOTTOM: According to OptaStats, last night, the Giants became the first team to have 15+ RBI in a game without getting any from the 3-4-5-6 spots in the order since the A’s did so at Seattle on August 10, 1987…Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire were among the middle-of-theorder hitters who had zero RBI for Oakland on the day.
SO FAR IT’S BEEN PERFECT: The Giants are a perfect 5-0 thus far on this six-game road trip, having swept the Cardinals in St. Louis Monday-Wednesday and now going 2-0 in the first two games of this series…the Giants have had just four road trips of six-plus games in franchise history where they went undefeated:
YEAH, WE’RE PRETTY HOT RIGHT NOW: The Giants enter play today having won 21 of their last 30 games (.700) dating to May 15, the best winning percentage in the Majors in that stretch ahead of Arizona and Miami (both at 20-10, .667)…the Giants have won each of their last eight road games and 13 of their last 15.
JUST IN CASE: The last time the Giants swept three straight road series (min. two games for a series) was when they swept four-straight from April 21, 1952 to May 5, 1952 (they swept the Phillies in two games, Reds in two games, Pirates in three games and Cubs in two games)
‘PENMANSHIP: The Giants success on the road since May 22 is partly due to their bullpen, which has posted a 1.34 ERA (11er, 74.0ip) away from home in that stretch with a .156 opposing average and 85 strikeouts while converting 11 of 12 save opportunities.
THE RIVALRY: LHP Alex Wood has won three games on the Dodger side of the Giants-Dodgers rivalry and last night he became the fifth starter since both teams moved west in 1958 to win a game for both the Giants and Dodgers against the other club…the four previous starters
GO FIGURE: The Giants were held to no runs and no hits through the first 6.0 innings in game one of this series on Friday, but since then they’ve scored 22 runs on 25 hits in their last 14.0 innings.
HELLO, OLD FRIEND: IF Brandon Crawford has played over a season’s worth of regular season games against the Dodgers, earning his spot near the top of the active leaderboards for LA opponents
GOING…GOING…GONE!: IF J.D. Davis hit his third career grand slam last night and his fifth career pinch-hit home run… Davis is just the fourth Giant to have a pinch-hit grand slam in the last 25 years, joining Rich Aurilia (June 12, 2003 at CWS), Russ Davis (Aug. 21, 2000 vs. FLA) and Austin Slater (July 6, 2019).
TODAY’S STARTER – LOGAN WEBB RHP #62
2023 RECORD: 5-6, 3.15 ERA
WITH THE GIANTS: Is in the midst of his fifth season with SF…made his fourth career Opening Day roster and his second consecutive Opening Day start with his outing on March 30 at the Yankees… signed a five-year, $90 million extension on April 14 that keeps him in a Giants uniform through 2028…the contract bought out his final two arbitration years and first three years of free agency.
LAST TIME OUT: Returned to the win column on Monday in St. Louis as the Giants hung on to defeat the Cardinals, 4-3…Webb spun 7.0 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits…he struck out six, did not walk a batter in the 88-pitch effort but did surrender two homers…Webb has worked at least 7.0 innings in seven of his last 10 starts dating to April 22.
THE HOMERS ARE BACK?: Two of the seven hits Webb allowed in St. Louis were homers and he’s now allowed four home runs this month (19.1ip) after giving up just one homer in five May starts spanning 34.2 innings…in total he’s allowed 12 homers this year in 91.1 innings, already one more than he allowed all of last season in 192.1 innings…his 1.18 HR/9ip ratio this year is the highest of his career and way above his career norm (0.70).
HANG TEN: Over his last 10 starts, Webb has looked like the 2021- 2022 version, posting a 2.53 ERA (19er, 67.2ip) on 56 hits with 14 walks and 63 strikeouts…Webb’s 2.53 ERA since April 22 is seventh-best in the Majors in that time (second-best in the NL)…SD’s Michael Wacha leads the NL and the Majors with his 1.33 ERA in that span.
I WATCHED A CHANGE…IN YOU: Through his first four starts this year opponents hit .344 with a .563 slugging % off his changeup… in his last nine starts, opposing hitters have gone 23-for-124 (.185) against the pitch with four extra-base hits, 37 strikeouts and seven walks.
GOTTA MAKE WEBB DAY A WIN DAY…: Over the last 2+ seasons as Webb has come into his own, the Giants as a team are 45-27 (.625) in games that he has started since 2021…however, SF is 6-8 in his 14 starts this season and 11-12 in his last 23 starts dating to August 13, 2022…in those 23 starts, Webb has received one or fewer runs of support 11 times…he himself has a 2.80 ERA in those 23 starts while posting an 8.83 K/9ip ratio and a 4.79 K/BB ratio.
SUPPORT SYSTEM: As mentioned above, the Giants have given Webb one or fewer runs of support in nearly half of his last 23 starts dating to August 13, 2022…this season, Webb’s 2.76 run support average is second-lowest in the Majors among qualified pitchers… only KC’s Zack Greinke (2.86) has a lower RSA…in his last start at St. Louis the Giants gave Webb four runs of support, just the third time all season they’ve scored four or more while he’s been in the game.
VS. LOS ANGELES-NL: Will be facing the Dodgers for a second time this year and for the 12th time in his career with his start this afternoon…in his start against them back on April 10 at Oracle Park, Webb allowed four runs (one earned) in 6.0 innings while striking out six, walking one and permitting two homers…in his last five starts against LA, Webb is 1-3 with a 4.67 ERA (14er, 27.0ip) while the Giants as a team are 1-4…in his three outings vs. LA in the regular season in 2021 he was 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA (4er, 16.0ip) and the Giants were 3-0 in those outings.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS NOTES:
SALVAGE TIME: The Dodgers have now dropped back-to-back games at home for just the third time this season, as they lost in historic fashion to the Giants last night, 15-0. The shutout loss was the largest-ever by Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium and also the most lopsided shutout defeat of the franchise since losing 18-0 to the Reds on Aug. 8, 1965, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. This afternoon on Father’s Day, the Boys in Blue will look to get to .500 on the homestand (2-3) in the finale of their three-game set with San Francisco. The last time the Dodgers were swept in a three-game series by the Giants was from June 10-12, 2022 at Oracle Park. The last time the Giants swept a three-gamer in Los Angeles was from Aug. 20-22, 2012. The Dodgers are now 2-3 against the Giants in 2023 and 5-9 in the month of June. Following today’s 1:10 p.m. matinee, the club will have an off day tomorrow and then hit the road for a trip down the I-5 for two games in Anaheim vs. the Angels on Tuesday and Wednesday. Following another off day on Thursday, June 22, the club will host the Houston Astros next weekend from June 23-25. The Dodgers are in second place in the National League West, 4.0 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks. Los Angeles is 22-13 (.629) at Dodger Stadium this season, which is the second best home record in the National League, trailing only Philadelphia (19-11, .633).
FLUSH IT: There was not much to take away from the Dodgers’ 15-0 loss last night as rookie right-hander Bobby Miller gave up seven runs and suffered the first loss of this career. The hard-throwing Miller saw his Dodger season high 20.0-inning scoreless streak snapped in the process. The bullpen struggled after Miller departed with lefty reliever Bryan Hudson making his Major League debut after having his contract selected yesterday. The Dodgers had just six hits, including two from rookie infielder Michael Busch, who also collected his first-career extra-base hit, a double, in the contest. Dodger leadoff man Mookie Betts extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the sixth inning. He’s hitting .326 (15-for-46) with two homers, seven RBI and nine runs scored during the run. Betts is tied for third in the NL with 54 runs scored and ranks ninth with an .893 OPS.
PROVIDING THE POP: The Dodgers’ offense continues to lead the National League in various categories, including runs per game (5.44), runs scored (386), extra-base hits (253) and walks (298) while ranking second in home runs (116), OPS (.776) and slugging (.448).
30 SPOT: In his last outing on Tuesday vs. the White Sox, Tony Gonsolin allowed just two hits over 6.0 scoreless innings, improving his career record to 30-7. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Gonsolin tied for the second fewest decisions all-time among pitchers to reach 30 victories and in addition, his 27-6 (.818) record as a starter is the best in the modern era through 60 starts. Gonsolin’s 1.93 ERA (10 ER/46.2 IP) is the best in the Major Leagues among pitchers who have tossed at least 40.0 innings this year. He has also limited the opposition to a .155 batting average this season.
STEADY FREDDIE: Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman went 1-for-2 and was hit by the pitch last night. He’s tied with Marcus Semien for second in the Major Leagues with 58 runs scored, trailing just Ronald Acuña Jr. (62). Freeman leads the Major Leagues with 24 doubles, is second with 38 extra-base hits and third in batting average (.326) and total bases (157). He is just five hits shy of 2,000 for his career.
THE OLD WEST: The Dodgers are 12-9 vs. the National League West this season, including a 7-4 mark at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles is now 66-31 (.680) against the National League West dating back to last season. The Dodgers have posted nine straight winning seasons against the National League West division, including four 50+ win seasons against their NL West foes (2014, 2019, 2021-22). Since 2014, the Dodgers are 419-251 (.625) against the NL West.
TODAY’S STARTER vs. GIANTS: RHP TONY GONSOLIN (4-1, 1.93 ERA in 9 GS)
2023 SEASON NOTES:
- Got his fourth win of the season in his last start against the White Sox on June 13, tossing six scoreless innings of on two hits, two walks while punching out six
- 2022 All-Star tossed his first win of the season on May 14th against San Diego after firing five scoreless innings and giving up two hits, one walk, and tying a season-high six strikeouts
- In his rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on April 20th, he hurled three innings, allowing one hit, two earned runs, two walks while sitting down seven
- Made one Spring Training start, tossing 2.1 innings, allowing no runs on three hits, while walking two and striking out two
- Gonsolin is now 30-7 in his career and is tied for the second fewest decisions all-time among pitchers to reach 30 victories. In addition, his 27-6 (.818) record as a starter is the best in the modern era through 60 games started.
VS. GIANTS:
- Has pitched in four games (three starts) against San Francisco in his career…has posted a 1-2 record with a 3.38 ERA (5 ER/13.1 IP) and 14 strikeouts against 11 walks
- In his last apearance against the club on May 4, 2022, he fired 5.0 innings while giving up three hits, one run and one walk while striking out five en route to his first win against San Fran
