SAN FRANCISCO — The last of Logan Webb’s career-high 112 pitches Tuesday night looked like it would be the one to spoil his seventh shutout inning.
Webb had blanked the Royals through six and was pitching well enough that manager Gabe Kapler sent him back out for the seventh with his pitch count approaching triple digits. A walk and single had put Kansas City’s M.J. Melendez on second base with two outs when Michael A. Taylor lofted a would-be RBI single in front of Luis González in right field.
Moments later, Webb was walking back to the dugout and pointing Gonzalez’s direction — equal parts astonishment, admiration and appreciation. González unleashed a 97.4 mph laser to the plate, where catcher Austin Wynns was waiting to lay the tag on Melendez for the third out of the inning, preserving Webb’s clean pitching line in possibly his best outing of the season.
