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This is Logan Webb’s seventh season with the Giants. That they’ve had just one winning record on his watch shows how dissatisfying the era has been – and ticks him off so much that it motivates him to keep pushing for another.
The Giants’ ace is craving not just for another winning record but for some more October baseball.
Webb’s only experience in the postseason came in 2021 when he pitched beautifully in two starts against the Dodgers, giving up one earned run in 14 ⅔ innings. The Giants were bounced in the series, but Webb got his first taste of the playoffs and is desperate for more. Sooner rather than later.
It wasn’t long ago that the 2025 season was considered lost. Another one that got away. Sure, lots of cool highlights, but not enough to warrant a trip to the playoffs.
Not so fast. The odds remain long. The path still requires a miracle. But the 2025 Giants, who never cease to stun the industry in general and their fans in particular, continue to make things interesting as the season winds down. Their 11-5 romp of the Diamondbacks Monday night — highlighted by a whopping five home runs, Webb reaching the 200-strikeout plateau for the first time, and rookie Drew Gilbert displaying more extravagant energy — left San Francisco three games out of the wild-card race with 18 to play.
“We put ourselves in a pretty big hole,” Webb said, recalling the Giants’ midseason crisis. “We’re just trying to enjoy it. Bring that energy. Try to win every single day. It’s been working out for us recently, so keep it going.”
Logan Webb regained the major league lead in innings pitched with six innings on Monday evening. | Source: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
With the Mets losing 1-0 in Philadelphia, the Giants crept to within three games of the final wild-card spot. Technically, however, they’re four back because the Mets would own the tiebreaker if the clubs finished the season with identical records.
Besides gaining ground on the Mets, the Giants picked up a game on the Reds, Cardinals, and Diamondbacks, all of whom were losers Monday. Still, the Giants’ playoff chances are a mere 5.0 %, according to calculations by FanGraphs. Not exactly favorable. But still somewhat possible. So long as the Giants streak to the finish line and other teams fall by the wayside. Two major ifs.
“I want to make the postseason every single year,” Webb said. “That’s my goal. That’s everyone’s goal. If you’re playing the game and not trying to make the playoffs, you’re not playing for the right reason. It’s a good group of guys in here that obviously want to be there, but we’ve got to keep taking it day by day. We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves.”
Several times over the course of their history, the Giants made fabulous September runs to the postseason. A sampling: The 2010 Giants were four games out of first place entering September, the year they won their first World Series title in San Francisco. The 1997 team was two back with 11 to play and won the division.
The 1962 team was four games behind with nine remaining, and the 1951 team — the granddaddy of all comebacks, in the days of the Polo Grounds — was four back with seven to go, each winning a dramatic best-of-three tiebreaker series over the Dodgers to determine the pennant.
Unlike all those teams, this year’s Giants, at 73-71, are a long way from first place. The wild card is their only hope, as it was in 2002, 2014, and 2016, when they advanced as second-place teams with 95, 88, and 87 wins, respectively.
To reach 87 wins this year, the Giants would need to finish 14-4.
October baseball didn’t seem possible several weeks ago when the Giants were buried in the standings, moving key players at the trade deadline, losing other key players to injuries, and experiencing all types of offensive woes. It’s still a long shot, but the Giants are all in on wherever this streaky season leads them.
“We had a rough stretch for a while in every facet. Pitching, hitting, defense,” Webb said. “It wasn’t the way we wanted to play baseball. Now we’re playing the right way. We’re giving ourselves a chance.”
Dominic Smith hit a game-tying two-run home run in the third inning on Monday. | Source: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Oracle Park, not long ago a house of horrors, is a party pad once again. It’s also suddenly a launching pad. Counting Monday’s homestand opener, the Giants have won seven of their last eight at Second and King and overall have gone 12-3 since Aug. 17.
On a warm evening by the bay, baseballs were flying out of the park. The Giants, who are flexing their muscles unlike any other time all season, slugged five homers for the first time in a home game since July 31, 2021 — Heliot Ramos, Dom Smith, Matt Chapman, Jung Hoo Lee, and Patrick Bailey.
After homering in 18 straight games, most by the franchise since 1947, the Giants went homerless in two weekend losses in St. Louis, then powered up again when returning home. It was the fourth time in six home games they scored double-digit runs.
“Every game is a blast,” said Webb, the Giants’ longest-tenured player who pitched six innings and yielded four runs, just one earned. Second baseman Christian Koss’ error helped giftwrap the Diamondbacks a three-run rally in the second inning, but the homer-happy Giants quickly made the deficit a distant memory.
Webb leads the National League in both strikeouts (201) and innings (184 ⅔) and is on his way to becoming the Giants’ first 200-200 club member since Madison Bumgarner in 2019.
Three games back with 18 to go.
“It’s gonna be fun,” Webb said.