SF Giants’ Game 2 starter Kevin Gausman thought Logan Webb deserved opener vs. Dodgers

SAN FRANCISCO — Kevin Gausman was fine with drawing Saturday night’s Game 2 start of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It turns out Gausman, the ace of the staff up until the All-Star break, would have done the same thing as manager Gabe Kapler and picked 24-year-old Logan Webb to open the National League Division Series at Oracle Park. Webb finished off the Giants 107-win regular season in beating the San Diego Padres in the season finale, a game in which he also hit a home run.

Then Webb went out and proved both Kapler and Gausman correct with a dominating 7 1/3 inning performance in a 4-0 win over the Dodgers before a crowd of 41,934.

“I think Webby deserves it with the last couple of months he’s had and with what he was able to do on Sunday,” Gausman said Friday at a news conference before Game 1. “He kind of put the entire team on his back, and with what he did at the plate. He’s from Sacramento. He’s watched the guys his entire life. So have I, but I think it’s a little bit more special for him that he’s starting Game 1.

“I think every guy in the clubhouse would agree he’s our best pitcher, especially in the second half.”

Gausman (14-6, 2.81 earned run average), will be opposed by Julio Urias (20-3, 2.96) in Game 2. He has a tough act to follow after the game Webb turned in Friday night.

A National League All-Star and one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball the first half of the season, Gausman hit a rough patch on the mound as well as in his personal life  When Gausman’s wife had difficulties with her pregnancy, Gausman went on family leave on July 16.

He returned to the team after a few days, but his wife was being checked in to the hospital every two days to monitor the condition of the baby.

“One thing I’ll say about Kap and everybody here, they were 100 percent in my corner,” Gausman said. “They were like, ‘Hey, if you need to be there a week, then take a week. Obviously we want you back and want you to pitch but there are more important things.’ I owe them a lot. The way they handled it, they were so on my side they really didn’t care about baseball in that moment. I’m very thankful for that.”

Sutton Claire Gausman was born Aug. 6, the second daughter for Gausman and his wife Taylor.

In the meantime, Gausman was struggling on the mound, with his ERA climbing as high as 2.92 after being as low as 1.68 in late June. Hitters were laying off his split-finger fastball, his pitch counts were rising and Gausman eventually found himself with the help of his fellow starters.

“We watch each other’s bullpens every day,” Gausman said. “Just extra eyes watching you. A couple of them came to me one day and said, we think your glove tap is getting too big. That’s why you’re not able to get your arm in the same position that you were earlier in the season.”

Gausman made the minor mechanical adjustment on Sept. 26 in Colorado, giving up three hits and one earned run and striking out 11 in six innings, a game the Giants won 6-2. Then in his last start against San Diego, Gausman pitched seven innings for just the second time since July 17. He got a no-decision in a 3-2 loss, but worked ahead in the count consistently, threw just 84 pitches and struck out six.

“I tried to make my glove tap as small as I could to get myself in position to get back on top of the ball,” Gausman said. “I think the last two starts you can see that it kind of came back to what it was.”

Shortstop Brandon Crawford said the difference was noticeable.

“He had a lot better feel for his splitter and was able to throw it for strikes more often,” Crawford said. “Seems like he was able to locate it a lot better than he was for a little bit in the second half. And if he has his fastball and splitter working like he did he’s as good as any pitcher in baseball.”

That Gausman fully supported Kapler’s decision to open the series with Webb is something Crawford expected.

“There are not many egos on this team and I’m not surprised at all that he said Logan deserved the start,” Crawford said. “That’s how it is in our bullpen and throughout a lineup. That’s just part of what makes us a true team.”