San Francisco Giants 5-1 Chicago Cubs: Logan Webb dominates as Giants avoid sweep

San Francisco, CA — Logan Webb turned in his finest start of the season when his team needed it most. The Giants' ace threw eight innings of one-run ball, striking out seven, as San Francisco defeated the Chicago Cubs 5-1 on Sunday afternoon at Oracle Park to avoid a three-game sweep.

Webb (4-4) was in complete command from the first pitch, allowing just seven hits and walking none over 106 pitches. The right-hander has now posted a 0.90 ERA with a 0.672 WHIP over his last three starts, a stretch that has lowered his season ERA from 4.50 to 3.88.

Giants break through in the fifth

The game was a scoreless pitchers' duel until the bottom of the fifth inning. Colin Rea (5-5), working as the bulk reliever after opener Ryan Rolison tossed a scoreless first, had kept the Giants off the board through four frames. But San Francisco finally cracked the code in the fifth.

Jung Hoo Lee led off with a single and moved up on a wild pitch. Drew Gilbert followed by ripping an 83.7 mph double off the left-field wall at 214 feet, scoring Lee to make it 1-0 Giants. Rea then walked Casey Schmitt before Matt Chapman crushed a 94.3 mph four-seam fastball over the center-field wall for a two-run homer, his seventh of the season, extending the lead to 3-0.

"I mean, a laser home run to center field," the MLB broadcast crew noted of Chapman's shot. "And Chapman rockets it out and the Giants add to their lead."

Webb cruises, Giants add insurance

Webb continued to carve through the Cubs lineup, facing just one batter over the minimum from the second through the seventh innings. Chicago managed only a handful of scattered singles and never seriously threatened.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Giants tacked on another run. Chapman — who finished 1-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored — worked a leadoff walk off Cubs reliever Julian Merryweather. Rookie Bryce Eldridge, hitting .317 on the season, lined a single to shallow left that plated Chapman from second, making it 4-0.

The Cubs finally got on the board in the top of the eighth. Dansby Swanson led off with a single, advanced on a groundout, and scored when Alex Bregman singled to shallow right field. Casey Schmitt's throwing error on the play allowed Bregman to move into scoring position, but Webb escaped further damage by retiring Michael Busch on a flyout.

San Francisco answered immediately in the bottom half. Casey Schmitt doubled to left, his 13th two-bagger of the year, and came home on Daniel Susac's RBI single to right, restoring the four-run cushion at 5-1.

Game-defining performances

Logan Webb (W, 4-4): 8.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 106 pitches — 73 strikes. A vintage outing from the Giants' stalwart, who needed 93 pitches or fewer in three of his previous four starts but went the distance here.

Matt Chapman: 1-for-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2 BB. The third baseman's two-run homer in the fifth was the decisive blow, and he reached base three times on the afternoon.

Colin Rea (L, 5-5): 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 K, 90 pitches. Rea had allowed three runs or fewer in four consecutive starts before this outing, but the Giants tagged him for four in the fifth before his exit.

Drew Gilbert: 1-for-3, 2B (7), RBI, R, BB. The young outfielder's RBI double broke the scoreless deadlock and set the stage for Chapman's homer.

What it means

The Giants (29-43) snapped a two-game losing streak and avoided being swept for the third time this season. After dropping the first two games of the series by scores of 6-1 and 6-1, San Francisco's bats finally awakened behind Webb's dominant performance.

For the Cubs (37-35), the loss prevented them from completing their first road sweep in San Francisco since 2013. Pete Crow-Armstrong extended his on-base streak to 17 games with a 2-for-4 afternoon, but the Cubs managed just seven hits and never got a runner to third base after the fifth inning.

Chicago now heads home for a series against the division-rival Milwaukee Brewers, while San Francisco welcomes the Los Angeles Angels for a three-game set at Oracle Park.

Box score breakdown

WP: Logan Webb (4-4) | LP: Colin Rea (5-5) HR: SF — Matt Chapman (7)