Giants' 'Strikeout God' fans career-high-tying 12

ANAHEIM -- Logan Webb came off the mound after the sixth inning, his night was done after throwing 105 pitches.

As he sat in the dugout, Webb's teammates came up to him and started calling him “the Strikeout God.”

It wasn’t for no reason, either. Webb had just struck out 12 batters, matching his career high set on March 30, 2023, against the New York Yankees. He also had zero walks, putting him in elite company with Madison Bumgarner (12), Tim Lincecum (5) and Juan Marichal (4) as the only Giants in 125 seasons to have at least four outings with more than 10 K's and no walks.

“Any time you’re in a list with those guys, I think it’s cool,” Webb said. “I look up to those guys. I grew up in the area, and I grew up watching those guys. Any time you’re in a list with those guys, I think you’re doing all right.”

It still wasn’t enough to get the win, however, as the Giants fell to the Angels 2-0 on Friday night at Angel Stadium.

“It feels like a wasted pitching effort the way he pitched tonight,” manager Bob Melvin said. “... He pitched great. Good enough to win a game.”

Good enough to win a game on most nights other than Friday night, apparently. Webb went six innings on 105 pitches, allowing two runs -- one of them unearned -- on four hits.

Webb’s changeup was unhittable -- of 16 swings and misses, he drew 11 on his changeup with a whiff rate of 79%. Pair that with his cutter, which he throws exclusively against lefties and barely gave up his first hit on it this season in the second inning on Friday, and it’s easy to see how his strikeout rate has jumped almost eight percentage points -- from 20.5% in 2024 to 28% -- this season.

“Super excited about the changeup,” Webb said. “Probably the most confident and the best I’ve felt in a long time on that pitch. [It’s probably been] a good year and a half. The end of ‘23 is the last time I felt good like that.”

Even pregame, Melvin had high praise for Webb.

“Every time Logan takes the ball, the team goes out there with a lot of confidence,” Melvin said. “Typically, too, he’s a guy that goes out there -- knock wood -- and gives us innings too.

“It’s who he is.”

And despite the loss, Webb lived up to every bit of Melvin’s pregame words in his outing on Friday. No knocking on wood necessary.

What makes Webb’s start even more impressive is that it teetered on the brink of spiraling early on.

After retiring the first five batters he faced (four by strikeout), Webb gave up a run on back-to-back two-out doubles from Nolan Schanuel and Zach Neto. Kyren Paris reached first base on an error from Giants third baseman Matt Chapman, who seemed to cut off shortstop Willy Adames’ path to a routine ground ball. The ball deflected off Chapman’s glove and into the outfield, allowing Neto to score.

“He’s gotten to that ball before,” Melvin said of Chapman’s error. “Both guys could probably get that ball. He goes after balls that he instinctively thinks he can get after.”

The situation could’ve spiraled out of control, considering the Angels had runners on second and third with two outs. But Webb settled in.

He drew a groundout to end the inning and allowed just one hit -- a single from Jo Adell in the fifth, bookended by strikeouts -- through the remaining 13 batters he faced over four more innings.

“He’s one of the better pitchers in the National League,” Melvin said. “Those type of things, it’s like, ‘I’ll pick up my defense.’ Typically, we’re really good defensively. That’s what he does. It’s not a surprise.”

But even after his outing jokingly earned him the title of “the Strikeout God” from his teammates, Webb still felt like he could’ve done better. Too many deep counts. Too many mistakes that prevented him from living up to the outing he thought he could’ve had.

“I’d honestly rather get seven strikeouts,” Webb said. “And go seven or eight innings. And not give up those two runs in the second inning. … Felt like I had more in there than six innings.

“That’s kind of just how the game went.”