Cobb masterful in near no-no

SF 6  CIN 1

With all my fussing about rookies and phenoms I may have lost sight of a grizzled vet or two. Alex Cobb will be 36 in October, and that’s old in baseball years, but he’s pitching at the top of his game. After youthful Kyle Harrison’s big start in the first game of the series, Cobb topped it with the best performance of his career (228 G, 1310 IP). He came agonizingly close to a no-hitter, losing it with two outs in the 9th, but he carried on and got the strikeout to complete the game. Cobb retired the first 17 batters before an error by Casey Schmitt (originally scored a hit) gave the Reds their first base runner. In the 8th, having blown past his career-high in pitches, Cobb’s gem was saved by a diving catch on a blooper from Austin Slater. In the 9th he walked a batter with one out who later scored on Spencer Steer’s two-out double. Cobb finished with 131 pitches!

Not only was it a tremendous performance but a timely one. The Diamondbacks lost and the Giants reclaimed second place by half a game. Last night the lineup got seven hits but four were for extra bases. Patrick Bailey’s two-run homer was the big blow.

Logan Webb gets the start this afternoon (12:45 PT) with a chance for a sweep. His rotation-mates have set a pretty high bar! Webb was not his usual dominant self in his last two starts and you know he wants to show the staff who is number one so I’m hoping for big things today.

Go Giants!

–M.C.

p.s. Remember when Yusmeiro Petit nearly threw a perfect game against the Diamondbacks? That was September 6th, 2013. He lost his after 8-2/3 as well.