Logan Webb pitches 7 2/3 shutout innings as Giants blank Braves 6-0 to avoid sweep

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Logan Webb threw 7 2/3 shutout innings, Grant McCray had his first career hit and home run, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves 6-0 on Thursday to avoid a sweep.

The Giants snapped a four-game losing skid behind Webb’s performance. The All-Star recorded his fourth straight win and held opponents to a run or fewer for his fourth consecutive start. He finished at least seven innings for the 14th time this season, most of any pitcher in the majors.

“It really was kind of a must-win for us,” San Francisco manager Bob Melvin said. “Those are the guys you want on the mound in those types of games, and he came as advertised.”

Webb (11-8) threw 104 pitches, striking out seven and holding the Braves to four hits. He departed with runners at the corners and two outs in the eighth. Webb said that his arm strength has been improving the last couple of starts.

“Whenever as a starter you get a lead, it’s your job to maintain it,” Webb said. “The guys came out swinging today and playing great defense. It was a recipe for success for sure."

McCray, after going hitless in his major league debut on Wednesday, went 2 for 3 and hit a solo homer in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 5-0. With his father, former big-leaguer Rodney McCray, watching from the stands, McCray, the Giants' 11th-ranked prospect, also had an RBI bunt single in the second inning that knocked in San Francisco’s first run for his first big league hit.

“I just blacked out, honestly,” McCray said. “I rounded second and was like, ‘This is for real, got it out of the way, finally.’ Just overwhelmed with excitement."

McCray’s homer followed a two-run blast by Casey Schmitt earlier in the sixth that doubled the Giants’ lead from 2-0 to 4-0.

McCray said his nerves got the best of him in his first game, but he entered Thursday with a different attitude.

“Today I just came in with the mindset of it's just another game. Play hard and do your job," McCray said.

San Francisco scored two runs in the second after loading the bases with nobody out. Tyler Fitzgerald recorded a sacrifice fly after McCray’s hit to give the Giants a 2-0 advantage.

Braves starter Max Fried (7-7), who pitched into the sixth, allowed three runs and struck out five. Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said that Fried struggled at times but limited the damage, but the offense was “shut down” by Webb.

“You can tell when he came out, he was on mission,” Snitker said. “He was going to give their bullpen a break, and he did. And he was efficient. Very, very competitive guy with really good stuff. And with that sinker, really throws a lot of strikes. He's a tough ride.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Giants: RHP Randy Rodriguez (right elbow inflammation) was placed on the 15-day injured list, and RHP Spencer Bivens was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento. ... IF Thairo Estrada (left wrist sprain) went 3 for 4 in a rehab assignment at Triple-A Sacramento on Wednesday.

Braves: OF Jorge Soler, who exited Wednesday’s game with left hamstring tightness, has a mild strain after undergoing an MRI on Thursday. He is considered day-to-day.

UP NEXT

Braves: RHP Spencer Schwellenbach (4-5, 3.95 ERA) is scheduled to start on Friday when the Braves begin a three-game series at the Angels.

Giants: After a day off on Friday, RHP Hayden Birdsong (3-2, 5.40 ERA) is scheduled to start as the Giants visit the A’s for a two-game weekend series.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

San Francisco Giants' Logan Webb pitches to an Atlanta Braves batter during the eighth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Francisco Giants' Casey Schmitt, right, celebrates with Mike Yastrzemski after hitting a two-run home run against the Atlanta Braves during the sixth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Francisco Giants' Logan Webb, third from left, walks past manager Bob Melvin (6) as he exits during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Francisco Giants' Casey Schmitt watches his two-run home run against the Atlanta Braves during the sixth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Francisco Giants' Casey Schmitt, right, celebrates with third base coach Matt Williams after hitting a two-run home run against the Atlanta Braves during the sixth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman, right, throws to first for the out on Atlanta Braves' Travis d'Arnaud during the fifth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Francisco Giants pitcher Logan Webb gestures as he exits during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban resigned Thursday, one week after it emerged that his phone was seized as part of a federal investigation that touched several members of Mayor Eric Adams’ inner circle.

Caban, who had been in charge of the nation’s largest police department for about 15 months, said in an email to staff that he made the decision to resign after the “news around recent developments” had “created a distraction for our department.”

“I am unwilling to let my attention be on anything other than our important work, or the safety of the men and women of the NYPD,” he added in the email obtained by The Associated Press.

At a news conference Thursday, Adams praised Caban for “making our city safer” and said he had named Tom Donlon, a retired FBI official, as the interim police commissioner.

Donlon previously served as the chief of the FBI’s National Threat Center and once led the Office of Homeland Security in New York, before starting his own security firm in 2020. He helped lead the investigation into the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and investigated the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings and USS Cole bombing.

Donlon said in a statement he was “honored and humbled” to head “the greatest law enforcement agency in the world,” and that his priorities would include removing illegal guns from the community.

Caban's resignation marks the first high-level departure from the Adams administration since federal investigators seized phones Sept. 4 from several members of the mayor’s inner circle, including two deputy mayors, the schools chancellor, and one of Adams’ top advisers.

The subject of the investigation, which is being led by U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, remains unclear, as does whether federal authorities were seeking information linked to one investigation or several.

Caban's lawyers, Russell Capone and Rebekah Donaleski, said in a statement Thursday they had been told by the government that “he is not a target of any investigation being conducted by the Southern District of New York, and he expects to cooperate fully with the government.”

The Justice Department defines a target of an investigation as someone whom prosecutors or a grand jury have gathered substantial evidence against that links the person to a crime. That’s in contrast to a subject, which is someone whose conduct is merely within the scope of the investigation. But those definitions are notoriously fluid and a person not seen as a technical target one day can become a target the next as new information develops.

Federal authorities are also investigating Caban’s twin brother, James Caban, a former NYPD sergeant who runs a nightclub security business, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person could not publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

James Caban “unequivocally denies any wrongdoing,” his lawyer, Sean Hecker, said in a statement. “His work – as a consultant and acting as a liaison between the Department and a private company – is perfectly legal, especially given his previous career as a NYPD officer,” Hecker continued.

James Caban was fired by the NYPD in 2001 after he was heard on a recording illegally detaining a cab driver whom he accused of stealing $100 and threatening to seize his vehicle.

According to people familiar with the matter, other officials whose devices were recently seized include First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright; Philip Banks, the deputy mayor for public safety; his brother David Banks, the schools chancellor; and Timothy Pearson, a mayoral adviser and former high-ranking NYPD official. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.

Adams, a first-term Democrat, was subpoenaed in July, eight months after federal agents seized his cell phones and an iPad while he was leaving an event in Manhattan. Federal authorities haven’t publicly accused him or any officials of any crimes, and Adams has denied any wrongdoing.

The investigation that led to Edward Caban’s devices being seized is not believed to be tied to a probe that led federal investigators to seize Adams’ devices last November, according to two people familiar with the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Caban, 57, was the first Latino to lead the 179-year-old NYPD. He started as a patrol officer in 1991 in the Bronx, where he grew up, and worked in precincts across the city as he was promoted. His father, retired Detective Juan Caban, had served with Adams, a former police captain, when they were both on the city’s transit police force. Three of Caban’s brothers were also police officers.

He was the department’s second-in-command before being named commissioner last year.

Caban replaced Keechant Sewell, the first woman to lead the force. She resigned 18 months into a tenure clouded by speculation that she was not truly in charge.

As commissioner, Caban presided over continuing declines in some major crime categories, including shootings and murders, but was also criticized for his handling of officer discipline, including two officers who did not face any internal disciplinary action in the fatal shooting of a Black man, Kawaski Trawick, inside his Bronx apartment in 2019.

Donlon's appointment marks the first time in more than two decades that someone without prior experience serving in a local police department will lead the NYPD. Close observers of the agency described the move as both politically strategic and potentially risky.

“It gives the mayor some credibility at a time when his police department and administration are facing federal investigations,” said Jeffrey Fagan, a Columbia Law School professor focused on policing. “At the same time, will someone with no experience in a complex municipal police department and no real power base be able to clean up this mess?”

Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

People walk past One Police Plaza, the headquarters of the New York City Police Department, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

FILE - Edward A. Caban, left, speaks after being sworn in as NYPD police commissioner outside New York City Police Department 40th Precinct, July 17, 2023, in New York. Mayor Eric Adams on the right. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon, File)

FILE — Edward A. Caban speaks after being sworn in as NYPD police commissioner outside New York City Police Department 40th Precinct, July 17, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon, File)