Logan Webb shines as Giants blank Dodgers; Red Sox pummel Rays

Los Angeles – Logan Webb dominated in his playoff debut Friday, striking out 10 in over seven shutout innings as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 in the opening game of the National League Division Series.

Webb got plenty of support from the Giants’ sluggers as San Francisco scored all their runs off home runs in front of a crowd of 41,900 at Oracle Park.

Buster Posey hit a two-run home run while Kris Bryant and Brandon Crawford added solo shots for the Giants, who are going head-to-head in the postseason with the Dodgers for the first time in the 131-year history of their New York-born rivalry.

The Giants needed an 11-4 home win over the San Diego Padres on the final day of the regular season to claim the division.

They then watched the defending World Series champion Dodgers dispose of the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL wild-card game on Wednesday to set the stage for a series between the two strongest clubs ever to meet in the Major League Baseball playoffs.

Webb, who allowed no walks, limited the Dodgers to five hits in his longest outing of the season.

He said he was nervous when taking the mound for his first postseason game.

“I was trying to calm down. The first two pitches, I was jittery. After that I settled in,” he said.

“The guys played good defense behind me. It was a fun night.”

Crawford’s homer came with two outs in the eighth off the Dodgers’ pitcher, Alex Vesia, to round out the scoring. Tyler Rogers got the final out of the eighth inning and Camilo Doval worked a 1-2-3 ninth to complete the Giants’ shutout.

Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler surrendered three runs on six hits in 6⅓ innings. He walked one and struck out five.

Red Sox hammer Rays

In the American League, the Boston Red Sox hammered a franchise playoff record five home runs as they pounded the Tampa Bay Rays 14-6 to level their playoff series at one game each.

Boston had 20 hits on the night, bouncing back from a Game 1 shutout in emphatic style at Tropicana Field in Florida.

After Boston put two early runs on the board, the Rays responded with a grand slam from first baseman Jordan Luplow.

Yandi Diaz added a run-scoring single to put the Rays up 5-2 after one inning.

But Boston hit two home runs in both the third and fifth innings to regain control.

Alex Verdugo and Xander Bogaerts hit solo blasts in the third and J.D. Martinez belted a three-run homer in the fifth — when Enrique Hernandez added a solo blast.

The record-setting fifth homer came from Rafael Devers in the top of the eighth inning and put the Red Sox up 11-6.

Christian Vazquez drove in a run in the ninth and Hernandez scored two with his fifth hit of the night.

The Red Sox will try to ride the momentum when the best-of-five American League division series shifts to Boston on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Houston Astros powered their way to a 2-0 lead over the Chicago White Sox in their AL series, erupting for five runs in the seventh inning on the way to a 9-4 victory.

The burst included a two-run double from Carlos Correa and a two-run homer from Kyle Tucker that saw the Astros break a 4-4 deadlock.

They took a 2-0 lead and can secure a spot in the AL Championship Series with a victory in Chicago on Sunday.

“Obviously you feel great going to Chicago with a two-game lead, but at the same time we’ve got to take care of business,” Correa said. “It’s not 100%.”

Elsewhere in the NL, the Milwaukee Brewers emerged with a 2-1 victory from a tense battle with the Atlanta Braves.

Atlanta starting pitcher Charlie Morton and Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes dueled through six innings with neither surrendering a run.

But Morton opened the seventh by hitting Avisail Garcia with a pitch and four pitches later Rowdy Tellez slammed a two-run home run off Morton to snap a scoreless tie and put the Brewers on the road to victory.