Giants need ace Logan Webb to play stopper vs. Cubs

Logan Webb might need to finish what he starts Sunday afternoon when the San Francisco Giants attempt to avoid a three-game sweep in their home series against the Chicago Cubs.

Using eight doubles and four home runs, the Cubs have overpowered the Giants both at the plate and on the mound in the first two games of the set, winning 5-1 and 6-1.

Runs have been hard to come by for the opponent, however, since Webb returned from the injured list on May 29. He has limited the Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals to a total of two runs and nine hits over 19 1/3 innings.

The Giants have lost two of those games, including Monday against the Nationals when Webb (3-4, 3.88 ERA), having thrown 99 pitches, was pulled with a 3-1 lead after eight innings.

Reliever Keaton Winn then served up three runs in the top of the ninth, denying Webb a win and sending the Giants to a 4-3 defeat.

Giants manager Tony Vitello said the pitch count for a player who had missed 3 1/2 weeks with knee soreness played a major role in the decision to deny Webb a shot at what could have been just his fourth career complete game.

The veteran right-hander, who has gone 2-1 with a 4.01 ERA in six career appearances (five starts) against the Cubs, made one thing clear after the loss: the knee pain is ancient history.

"It's been back to normal for the last two (starts)," he assured reporters after the game. "I feel a lot better now, so I'm just happy I can contribute."

The Cubs have to be feeling pretty good about the way they've peppered the ball around San Francisco's pitcher-friendly Oracle Park in the first two games of the series.

Nine different Cubs have hits in the series, including six with doubles and four with home runs.

Chicago likely will have to play the series finale without Seiya Suzuki, who injured his right knee trying to make a catch in the outfield Saturday night. Afterward, the club was calling the injury "discomfort."

Suzuki has been one of the chief offensive contributors in the wins with three hits, including a pair of doubles.

Shooting for a third straight impressive pitching performance by their pitchers, the Cubs have scheduled left-hander Ryan Rolison (5-1, 2.25) in likely an opener role for Colin Rea (5-4, 5.19) in the series finale.

Rea is 1-4 with an 8.80 ERA in six career starts against the Giants. Rolison got the win by pitching a scoreless 10th inning on June 6 when the Cubs defeated the Giants 3-2.

While a bulk of the work probably will be done by Rea, all eyes will be on Rolison in the first inning or two, when he most likely will have to deal with San Francisco lefties Luis Arraez, Bryce Eldridge and Rafael Devers.

That trio has combined for eight of the Giants' 11 hits in the series. Rolison has held left-handed hitters to a cumulative .182 average this season.

"Ryan's been a really, really nice development on this team," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of the waiver claim from the Chicago White Sox. "He's pitched in some enormous moments, and he's delivered in those situations."

-- Field Level Media