The Giants really needed that elite Webb in the rubber match against the Royals ahead of a nine-game, three-city road trip. If his newfound strikeout prowess wasn’t going to show up, his ability to induce weak contact and work late into games would work.

The Royals waited until the last moment to divulge their pitching plans for Wednesday’s series finale against the Giants at Oracle Park. They had plenty of options available to them. They brought Triple-A prospect Luinder Avila along on the taxi squad in case of an emergency — he was stretched out and could’ve started, if needed.

The San Francisco Giants fell to the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday afternoon. Now 29-21 on the season, San Francisco is 1.5 games back of the first place Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.