SF Giants are back in the win column after a 9-3 victory

After dropping a rough 14-4 defeat on Friday night, the SF Giants responded with a convincing victory against the Washington Nationals on Saturday. Logan Webb worked through six innings while the offense provided plenty of run support.

SF Giants are back in the win column after a 9-3 victory

Webb was not as sharp as he has been through the first four starts of the season, but he still found ways to generate outs. The Nationals offense proved tough in the early going after seemingly every batted ball found a hole.

There was a tense moment in the third inning as the Nationals scratched two runs across home plate and they were threatening to add more. With César Hernández at second base, Josh Bell singled on a ground ball to right field.

Luis González threw a strike to home plate but Hernández was ruled safe by the home plate umpire. The Giants challenged the call but it bears mentioning that the replay system has rarely resulted in a favorable call for San Francisco to start the season. It is completely random but tough to ignore.

The replay review dragged on for longer than expected, which was not promising as that usually means that the call will not be overturned. However, the umpires declared that the call had been overturned and the Giants limited the Nationals' rally to just two runs in that inning.

It felt like pendulum had shifted in favor of the Giants after that and they did not look back. They tied the game in the bottom of the third with a clutch, RBI double for Thairo Estrada to plate Wilmer Flores and Brandon Crawford.

The Giants tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning on an Estrada RBI groundout followed by an RBI single from Mauricio Dubón.

The rosters are decreasing from 28 players to 26 players on Monday, so the expectation is that there should be a flurry of activity. Dubón is on the roster bubble and he has struggled to the tune of a .354 OPS at the plate in 2022.

By the end of the game, the score was not close as the Giants secured a 9-3 victory and evened up the series at one. Jason Vosler had a very nice game, recording two hits, including a solo shot, in three at-bats with two RBI.

Darin Ruf made plenty of loud outs in April and he finally saw some of his batted balls fall for hits on Saturday. The right-handed bat registered three hits in five at-bats against the Nationals. Each of his hits had an exit velocity of 105 MPH or above. Hopefully, that is a sign of things to come.

San Francisco will look to take the series on Sunday as Alex Cobb returns to the hill. The righty sustained an abductor strain just over 10 days ago, so it is an encouraging sign that he only missed two starts.