Giants fall as Cobb has rough return to lineup

SAN FRANCISCO » A lone banana is all that is required to tell the story of the Giants’ 11-5 loss to the Nationals on Sunday.

There it was, sitting on the Giants’ bench, next to strewn water bottles and shelled sunflower seeds. One banana, in a Ziploc bag, labeled “Cobb.”

The banana is Alex Cobb’s mid-game snack of choice when his stomach rumbles during a start. But in his first start after 13 days on the injured list, no pick-me-up was required to get him through this game — his return to the rotation was spoiled before he could even record three outs.

By the time manager Gabe Kapler came to get him, after five runs, 10 batters and 40 pitches, with the bases loaded and two outs in the first inning, Cobb stared at his manager striding toward the mound and stoically handed him the ball without saying a word.

This was not how the 34-yearold right-hander envisioned his return to the rotation after missing almost two weeks with a mild groin strain, as evidenced by his banana, body language and his pitching line: 2/3 innings, four hits, five runs, three walks — and a balk.

“It seemed to be just a combination of bad luck, really bad pitches and just not executing that one pitch I needed to get out of the inning,” said Cobb, whose frustration mounted about halfway through a five-run first inning that lasted nearly half an hour.

The five-run hole was too much for the Giants’ patchwork lineup to overcome against Nationals starter Josiah Gray, who held San Francisco hitless for 4 2/3 innings and blanked them for all six of his frames.