WEST SACRAMENTO – It was touch and go there for a while, but the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night once again looked like a playoff-caliber team.
Matt Chapman shined in his return to the lineup, Willy Adames had his most productive night of the season, and Logan Webb did not disappoint his many friends and family members in attendance in a 7-2 win over the Athletics at Sutter Health Park.
Chapman singled and scored twice in his first game since June 8, and Adames had a season-high four RBIs as the Giants won for the third time in the last eight games.
Heliot Ramos, who was hit by a Luis Severino pitch in the first inning, responded with his 14th home run of the season in the fifth inning. That gave San Francisco a 5-1 lead, much to the delight of the thousands of Giants fans present at the intimate minor league park.
Second baseman Brett Wisely doubled a Sean Newcomb fastball to right center to score two more runs and give his team a 7-1 lead, as the Giants went on to level the series at one win apiece with the rubber match on Sunday night. San Francisco was blasted 11-2 by the A’s on Friday.
Webb, a native of nearby Rocklin, allowed two earned runs over 6 2/3 innings — surviving a delicate sixth inning — as he improved to 3-1 in his last five starts and 8-6 for the season.
In the sixth, Webb allowed two doubles, including an RBI double to Nick Kurtz that cut the A’s lead to 7-2. But with one out and the bases loaded, Webb used a 91 mph sinker on a 2-2 count to get A’s outfielder Tyler Soderstrom to ground into a 4-6-3 double play and end the threat.
Giants manager Bob Melvin allowed Webb to come out for the seventh, and Webb responded by striking out Max Muncy and Zack Gelof to start the inning. But after Webb allowed a Denzel Clarke double and a walk to Lawrence Butler, Melvin took him out and replaced him with Randy Rodríguez, who got Jacob Wilson to pop up.
Chapman missed 23 games with right-hand inflammation after he injured himself on a dive back to first base on an attempted pickoff play in a game against the Atlanta Braves. The Giants went 9-14 in his absence, going from being in a tie for the National League’s first wild-card position to being one game out of a playoff spot.
Melvin was fuming during the top half of the first inning.
Back-to-back Giants hitters were hit by inside 95 mph sinkers from Severino. Ramos was hit on the left hand, knocking off his padding, and Chapman, who had just been activated off the injured list, was hit on what appeared to be his left triceps.
One batter later, Adames made Severino and the A’s pay with a two-run single up the middle to score Chapman and Rafael Devers, who had reached on a fielder’s choice.
In the third inning, an Adames single to left scored Chapman and Jung Hoo Lee for a 4-1 Giants lead.
Melvin and the Giants had eagerly awaited Chapman’s return.
In his last 11 games before he landed on the IL in June, Chapman had been playing his best baseball of the season, going 15 for 38 (.395) with five doubles, three homers, five RBIs, and five walks.
“It’s huge to have him back,” Melvin said before Saturday’s game. “Not just the production part and what he does on the field, it’s his presence in the dugout, on the field and the clubhouse.”
Webb was pitching in the park that’s about a half-hour away from his childhood home in Rocklin. It unclear how many of Webb’s friends and family members, but it was more than enough for him and the Giants to feel like it was their home and not one for the A’s.
Webb, who lasted at least six innings in each of his previous 11 starts, first pitched in West Sacramento in 2019, when he made a start for the River Cats in his Triple-A debut. In that game on Aug. 12 against Nashville, Webb struck out seven and allowed one earned run in seven innings.
Saturday, Webb needed just 31 pitches to get through the first three innings.