SAN FRANCISCO -- Logan Webb hit 10 pitching brilliantly in his post-season start, Buster Posey hit a two-run homer, and the 107-winning San Francisco Giants defeated the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers 4- 0 to Friday. night in their NL Division Series opener.
Those two Giants standouts summed up perfectly for the NL West Champs this year: a stellar performance from the young right-hander backed by a seasoned catcher who has shined many times before on this big October stage.
Webb credits Posey with helping him excel at appearance.
"Just get him back there, honestly," Webb said. "He'll calm me down.'
Kris Bryant and Brandon Crawford were backed by Webb as a combined five-hitter and a pair of relievers.
Everyone knows this matchup between age-old rivals takes this best of five playoff series to another level. They finished with two of baseball's best records, the split coming to a close on the final day as the Dodgers pulled back a game with 106 wins, ending their run of eight consecutive West Crowns.
That meant Los Angeles had to be received by the Cardinals in a wild-card game Wednesday night, then flew straight to the Bay Area, where a loud crowd packed Oracle Park.
"Today's energy was awesome," Webb said.
The Dodgers will also try the series when they send 20-game winner Julio Urias to the mound for Game 2 on Saturday night against Giants All-Star right-hander Kevin Gossman.
Webb waved his pitching hand to a spirited cheerleader in the eighth after a two-out single by Mookie Bates. He did not run as a batsman, beating Dodgers star Walker Buehler.
"Obviously it's on me to try to build some momentum and I sucked it out of my dugout," Buehler said.
Tyler Rogers finished eighth and Camilo Doval ninth in the final.
Giants manager Gabe Kapler, who made his own playoff debut on the top leg of the dugout, was confident that 24-year-old Webb would shine on the biggest start of his life. Just last Sunday, Webb led the Giants in the regular-season finals ahead of the Padres as San Francisco won the club's first division title since 2012. Webb hasn't lost in Colorado since May 5.
With a makeover and slider feature, the web was in total command. He also converted four comebacks into outs.
Tommy La Stella hit a pair of singles and played a sparkling defense, starting things off with a five-pitch walk from Buehler in the bottom of the first.
It set things up for Posey, who sat through last year's coronavirus-shortened season to care for twin girls who were born prematurely. He grabbed the pitch 3-0 in a water-splash column atop a right-field arcade with two outs in the first to send an orange-towel-waving orange-towel crowd of 41,934 into a frenzy.
Kapler said that Posey could play the game after every season, and why not? At 34, the veteran catcher started the season in five of the final six regular-season games and 10 of 13 overall. It marked his first postseason home run since Game 4 of the 2012 World Series at Max Schaezer's in Detroit.
La Stella intercepted Justin Turner's sharp grounder at second base in fourth and in the same motion flipped the ball toward Crawford, and the shortstop fired first baseman Wilmer Flores for an innings-ending double play.
This is the first meeting after the season between the storied franchises, which have a history dating back to their days in New York. In 1951 and 1962 the teams faced off in best-of-three NL tiebreakers, with the Giants winning each of the three.
Webb one night San Francisco 49ers Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Steve Young chanted "Beat LA!" led. Chant before the first pitch. Home run king Barry Bonds sits with NBA Hall of Famer Chris Mullin in the middle innings as he is shown on the big screen, standing and waved a standing ovation.
Bryant, acquired in the midseason trade with the Cubs, home to the Giants. Buehler lowered his head with his hands on his knees as the ball went over the left field fence.
Crawford homered in the eighth.
Buehler had been 7-0 lifetime against the Giants before taking a loss Sept. 5 in the season series finale as San Francisco edged LA 10-9, with the Dodgers holding an 80-78 advantage in runs.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Dodgers: Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went among his 12 pitchers with David Price along with fellow southpaw Justin Bruehl, who made his major league debut in August and isn't someone who is in Los Angeles just yet with back-to-back pitching. comfortable with. With regard to value, Roberts notes the pluses, "I think with David, certainly the experience, the ability to add some length, a neutral arm." In fact, Roberts didn't rule out considering Price as an opener for Game 4.
Giants: RHP Johnny Cueto was dropped from the San Francisco roster after losing a significant amount of time during the season with an elbow trouble. “Very hard decision. I think we loved to stretch him and maybe consider him as someone who could start one of these games for us.” We weren’t able to get there, and it’s tough. This is especially difficult because Johnny means so much to the organization. “…1B Brandon Belt has been torn apart by a broken left thumb that he hopes will heal in time for a return to the NLCS, should the Giants move on.
UP NEXT
Urías (20-3, 2.96 ERA) hasn’t lost in 17 starts since June 21, going 11-0 over that stretch that included a Sept. 4 win at Oracle Park.
“It's a big game and I will have the maximum focus,” Urías said.
Gausman (14-6, 2.81) was 0-1 over his final four starts following five straight winning decisions. But he allowed one run over seven innings last Saturday in an eventual extra-innings loss to San Diego.