Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
On an afternoon when Logan Webb frustrated Miami hitters and pitchers, when Curt Casali flirted with even more shutout history and when Jason Vosler recorded his first single and steal, there is a case the most impressive effort at Oracle Park was not by anyone in a baseball uniform.
Great job, grounds crew, which used surreal amounts of dirt and clay to repeatedly turn an infield of puddles into an infield that was playable.
There were plenty of pauses between innings on a rainy and muggy Sunday, but the sun came out eventually and the Giants made shoehorning the game in worth it for the 7,572 fans in attendance in a 4-3 win over the Marlins, taking the series 3-1.
The Giants (14-8) have won six of eight entering another winnable home series, against the Rockies. The schedule has not been overly difficult early, but they are building enough momentum and have enough depth to inspire hope that this is more than a nice April.
There were significant concerns arising in the finale with the Marlins though, which entailed Mike Yastrzemski leaving the game after six innings. The Giants did not announce why he had exited, but Alex Dickerson entered and played left and Darin Ruf moved to right. Similarly, Wilmer Flores was pulled after two innings, the club saying he was feeling under the weather. Vosler took over and played a nice game in his second ever, singling to right in the fifth and getting to first with a big smile on his face.
The Giants’ hot start has involved just about every pitcher, Webb joining the party and nearly helping make history for Casali. Webb tossed seven scoreless innings, but Matt Wisler allowed a two-run shot to Jesus Aguilar — the Marlins slugger’s third two-run homer in as many days in San Francisco — in the eighth.
Casali came four outs short of his sixth straight shutout, which would have matched Ed Phelps, who alone set that record with the 1903 Pirates. At long last, Phelps can exhale.
Webb would have been the sixth different member of the rotation to start a game that Casali caught for a shutout, a remarkable feat for a catcher who has history with a lot of the staff but is in his first year with the Giants. Both when he took his eighth-inning at-bat and when he singled to left, the crowd gave him a nice, knowing round of applause.
The crowd did the same for Webb, who went back to the mound for the eighth as if he would push past his career high of 107 pitches. But Gabe Kapler only wanted to see whom the Marlins would pinch-hit before lifting the 24-year-old, who heard it from the crowd as his manager signaled for Wisler. Tyler Rogers finished off the game for his second save of the year.
Webb was excellent while relaxing the use of his prized changeup, which hitters had been sitting on. He led with his sinker, which got 11 whiffs and 16 called strikes, and surrendered just three hits and three walks while striking out eight.
His biggest jam came in the seventh, when Kapler considered lifting him with two on but allowed him to stay. He got behind 3-0 on Chad Wallach, but fought back and got a double-play ball to secure his seventh zero on the scoreboard.
The Giants’ offense did not do a lot again but did enough again, and thanks to a surprising star: Webb. Giants pitchers had been 0-for-29 before his second-inning, two-run triple to Triples Alley, the athletic righty chugging into third standing. It was the first triple by a Giants pitcher since Tim Lincecum in 2013.
They were unconventional with their hitting Sunday, including a safety squeeze from Mauricio Dubon that scored a run and got Dubon to first.
It was an afternoon full of mist, big moments from Webb and more concerns from Giants position players leaving early. They will hope Flores and Yastrzemski are OK.