Again??

The San Francisco Giants road trip ended as it began—with a blown lead in the 9th and a blown gem by their ace Logan Webb.

Like stuffing slices of tender and juicy and rare smoked tri-tip between two frozen Eggo waffles—it could’ve been a helluva of a sandwich.

Yup, a 6-0 road trip was well within San Francisco’s reach, but they botched the bread.

The New York Mets appeared pinned, down 3-1 in the bottom of the 9th after two demoralizing losses, and the Giants fans, buoyed by Brett Wisely’s offense and Webb’s solid start, headed to the cupboards for their brooms.

But Brandon Nimmo, who had gone 1 for 11 with 7 strikeouts in the series up to that point, rolled a weakly hit come-backer that deflected off Tyler Rogers glove for an infield single. The second pitch of the inning, J.D. Martinez shot another single to right.

Two pitches in, trouble already simmered.

Hitting Jeff McNeil in a 1-2 count with one out put the winning run on base and brought things to a boil. Harrison Bader, who robbed a home run from Matt Chapman in the 6th and singled in the Mets’ only run up to that point, then wiffled a letter-high slider to left for a double.

With the game tied, Rogers intentionally walked Brett Baty, desperately searching for a double-play bail-out. The submariner didn’t get it. Two pitches later Omar Narvárez singled home the winning run.

New York’s 4 hits on 16 pitches in the 9th doubled their total in innings 1 thru 8. Logan Webb allowed only 3 hits and an unearned run over 7 innings of work while collecting a season-high 8 strikeouts. After the game, Webb said he like he had all his pitches working for him in the start and that much was clear. His 17 swings-and-misses also set a season-high, passing the 15-mark he put up against these Mets on April 23rd (8 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 4 K).

Similar results against the same team, but achieved in different ways.

Back in April, he featured his off-speed, throwing it 46% of the time. The change-up was certainly effective in getting ground-balls (18 to yesterday’s 8) but a ball in play always has a chance to find a hole. Webb is excellent at managing that contact, but an over-reliance on the off-speed and a tendency to give up loud contact has sunk outings for him in Boston and Philly.

No matter how good the change-up is, it’s always better playing off of a fastball. When Webb establishes his sinker, he’s much more dynamic and hitters have a lot more to think about at the plate.

Webb did exactly that on Sunday. He K’ed Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso with the sinker to start the 1st and went on to throw it 44% of the time (to the change-up’s 28%). With Webb’s signature pitch lingering in the back of their mind, the sinker continued to jump on New York hitters. 6 of Web’s 8 K’s were bagged with a fastball (5 sinker, 1 four-seam), and 11 of the 17 whiffs were generated by the sinker. That 44% whiff-rate was well-above his normal season averages (10.4% in 2023, 13% in 2022).

A little more swing-and-miss isn’t a bad thing from Webb, and it would’ve been nice to see in the 9th too.

An exit velocity of 83.6 MPH started that fateful inning. An exit velocity of 74 MPH tied it. An exit velocity of 76 MPH won it. Frustrating contact, a little unlucky, but that’s what you expect from Tyler Rogers.

Does his tendency to get hit—no matter how weak and wonky it is—disqualify him from being a closer?

Bob Melvin’s decision to go Ryan Walker in the 8th and Rogers in the 9th rubbed a lot of fans the wrong way. Maybe more so by the fact that the decision felt predetermined. Walker in the 8th, Rogers in the 9th. No question.

But there was a little bit to question.

Rogers doesn’t hand out free bags, but his whiff% and K% are some of the worst in the league. While Walker’s cross-over step and power funk gets chase, swing-and-miss, and strikeouts, while avoiding hard-contact and walks. I think the criticism of Rogers pitching the 9th is a tad unfair. Bottom line is he gets outs, he produces results, and has done for some time now. A bad inning comes for us all every now and then, and nothing in the 9th is guaranteed. We understand this truth more than ever now.

But the volatility of the 9th can be just as effective an argument for keeping Rogers out of it.

If a little more swing-and-miss for a starter like Webb might be necessary, it’s paramount for a closer because it mitigates the distinct possibility of things getting weird. Walker’s stuff provides more insurance against “accidents.” Not that Bader’s double was an accident—just good, adaptable hitting—but if Walker throws that last pitch, does he have any chance of hitting it?

And this whole debate doesn’t touch on the fact that Camilo Doval—the undisputed closer—wasn’t an option in yesterday’s loss due to the fact that he pitched in 4 of the previous 5 games, including on Saturday, when he was brought in with a 5-run lead in the 10th.

That decision would’ve been ridiculous if not for the Giants roller-coaster road trip of late-game implosions. The thinking there: give Doval an easy, low-stakes outing, ensure nothing goes haywire against the heart of the New York lineup. Whatever it was, it had consequences on Sunday.

A great road trip that could’ve been a whole lot better with a win on Sunday. The good news is the Giants are home now, where they play well. The much worse news: they have back-to-back series against the two best teams in baseball.