Logan Webb gives a great performance, striking out eight batters and hitting a 2-run home run to lead the Giants to victory and the NL West title. (1:23).
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco Giants won the National League West without having to wait for rival Dodgers to win on Sunday. They beat the San Diego Padres on Sunday to record a franchise-record 107th win to surpass the 1904 New York team.
Logan Webb was the surprise of San Francisco, leading it to its first division title since 2012. This delighting crowd of 36.901 people was nothing short. Buster Posey also had an amazing day.
Posey lifted both arms in the air as Eric Hosmer hit out swinging to stop it. Posey ran to the mound to embrace Dominic Leone.
Gabe Kapler, Giants manager, said to fans that "the first thing that comes into my mind is how proud I feel of this group and their accomplishments." "Partly why I feel that way, I believe, is that we all knew, at the beginning or back to spring training, what the projections were and how the industry viewed us as a team. It was something I discovered that these projections and perspectives did not take into account.
After allowing three consecutive singles, Webb was given a standing ovation. Webb struck out eight batters and didn't walk one while pitching seven-plus stellar innings. He also hit a two run homer in the fifth, his first career clear-cut.
Posey scored three runs with a pair singles and earned his 1,500th career run as San Francisco's division hopes were down to the last day. After losing 3-2 in 10 innings a previous day, the Giants won Game 162, as Los Angeles defeated the NL Central champion Milwaukee.
ESPN Stats & Information research shows that the Giants have won 11,301 games over their 139 seasons. This is the most wins of any MLB team.
Giants will host Wednesday's wild-card match between Cardinals and Dodgers at Oracle Park. Game 1 of the NL Division Series is Friday at Oracle Park. Because Los Angeles and St. Louis aren't typical wild-card teams, they are certain to face at least a 90 game winner. To force their way into the equation, the Cardinals, a late-comer in the race, won 17 consecutive September victories.
San Francisco wanted to win it this way in order to dethrone Dodgers, the reigning World Series champions. A win or loss by the Giants could have forced a tiebreaker on Monday. Since the Giants' last NL West title nine years ago, the Dodgers have won eight of the eight titles.
San Francisco had the best baseball record for 125 consecutive days, and they won the regular season's last day for the first time since 2017.
"This group believed we would win the game. Always," Kapler said.
Manny Machado made it interesting briefly with a sacrifice fly against Webb in the fourth. Webb was unbeaten since May 5, at Colorado. After that loss, he was 10-0. However, he had three straight no-decisions after beating the Cubs at Wrigley Field in September 12.
The right-hander's new gem was supported by so many big hits. Mike Yastrzemski scored 11-1 with his two-run double in seventh.
Webb walked to load bases in the fourth. Tommy La Stella followed up with an RBI single, before Wilmer Flores added two runs.
This one brought back some memories of Oct. 3, for the storied franchise. Now, they are determined to create more October memories like the 2010 '12 and 2014 World Series champions with some the same faces today, Posey, Brandon Crawford, and the injured slugger Brandon Belt.
Webb did exactly what Jonathan Sanchez did, pitching the Giants over the Padres on day six of 2010. This was to propel the club to its first playoff appearance since 2006.
You could also go back to Bobby Thomson's song "Shot Heard Round the World", where Willie Mays, the New York Giants and Brooklyn beat Brooklyn 5-4 to win the 1951 pennant. However, they eventually lost the World Series.
These 2021 Giants completed a stunning turnaround in manager Kapler's second season from a club that finished 29-31 for third place in the division during the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season.
These Padres and Los Angeles were, in fact, the favorites to win the division six months ago.
This might have been Jayce Tingler’s last game managing San Diego (79-83), which had high hopes to contend behind Fernando Tatis Jr. and Machado. After losing 13 of their previous 15, the Padres lost 8 of their final 9 games and finished below.500 for 10th consecutive year.
Reiss Knehr, Padres' starter (1-2), pitched three innings in his 12th appearance in the major leagues and fifth career start.
This report was contributed by The Associated Press.
