With 5th straight loss, Giants achieve feat 107-win team never did
SAN FRANCISCO — All Alex Cobb could do was bury his head in the grass.
The unluckiest pitcher in baseball — really, there are stats to back this up — had just been burned again, tripping and falling to the grass fielding a soft comebacker from Brandon Nimmo. The ball is expected to be a hit only 9% of the time, and this would be one of those times. Nimmo’s dribbler was already the Mets’ fourth infield single of the game. Cobb remained splayed on the infield grass for a few extra seconds as he watched the speedy leadoff hitter sprint past the bag.
As it turned out, Nimmo’s single would be the one that didn’t come back to bite Cobb on Monday night, but the misfortune of San Francisco’s starting pitcher proved too much to overcome as the banged-up Giants lost their series opener to the Mets, 13-3, extending their losing streak to five games.
Cobb struck out seven and walked none, but his ERA swelled ever higher, to 6.25, after allowing six runs on 10 hits — four that didn’t leave the infield and another that blooped in to left field — over six innings. Yet, his expected ERA, according to Baseball Savant, sits at a sparkling 1.75, and to boot, Cobb threw the fastest pitch of his career — 96.6 mph — past Starling Marte for one of those seven punchouts.
“All we really have to focus on is executing pitches, and then the results happen,” Cobb said. “I felt like I was executing some pitches tonight, and the results weren’t quite there. … It’s tough. You put so much in to each pitch. You execute the pitch. You induce weak contact. And they get rewarded for it. …
“I try not to get too frustrated, or at least look like I’m frustrated. … There was a couple tonight that I would like to be outs.”
Brandon Crawford’s two-run home run in the second inning was all the Giants could muster off Mets starter David Peterson, sending San Francisco to its fourth loss in four games since returning to Oracle Park. The Giants have been outscored 3815 over the course of their fivegame losing streak.
At the quarter-mark of the season, the Giants have lost five games in a row twice, something they didn’t do once during their 107-win campaign last season. Their loss, coupled with a Dodgers win, sent them a full 6.0 games back of Los Angeles in the NL West standings, a gap that never grew to more than 4.5 games last season.
During both losing streaks, the Giants have missed at least seven players to various ailments. On Monday, Austin Slater (left wrist inflammation) became the latest player to hit the injured list, joining LaMonte Wade Jr. (left knee inflammation), Curt Casali (concussion) and Brandon Belt (right knee inflammation) just in the past four days.
The injury voodoo to strike the Giants could rival only their starting pitcher’s bad luck to start this season, which would border on comical if it weren’t so cruel. Afterward, the typically verbose Giants manager was at a loss for words.
“I thought Alex came out with good stuff,” Gabe Kapler said. “I don’t really have much more than that.”
In one start (May 1 vs. St. Louis), Cobb was burned by one misplay that extended an inning and ended his outing. In his last start (Sunday at Colorado), Cobb had stymied the Rockies for five innings before serving up a home run, after which Kapler took partial blame for leaving in his starter too long.
That all added up to Cobb taking in to Monday’s game the third-largest gap in the majors between his actual ERA and expected ERA, and the events in the Mets’ five-run third inning did nothing to narrow that gulf.
Of the Mets’ five hits that inning, only J.D. Davis’ single to lead off the frame and Pete Alonso’s home run to clear the bases were expected to result in a hit more than one in five times. In between, Nimmo beat out a ground ball to Brandon Crawford (xBA: .160), Starling Marte followed with a swinging bunt that Cobb fielded but couldn’t throw to first (xBA: .200) and — here’s the chaser — Francisco Lindor popped a ball down the left field line that landed just fair and bounced into the stands, over the body of Darin Ruf that landed in the first row of seats, for a two-RBI groundrule double.
Ruf charged hard but misjudged the wall and let the ball fall in front of him as he tumbled in to the first row of seats.
“That’s why I feel horrible I didn’t make that play for him,” Ruf said. “He’s been excellent. If I make that catch, he’s out of that inning with no runs instead
of giving up five. He’s got great stuff. Seems like a lot of times, the hits that they’re getting are infield singles and there’s just one big swing in the game where the infield singles happen to come right before that.”
The Giants’ only runs until it was out of hand came about in seemingly almost as unlikely of fashion, at least judging by contributions so far this season.
In his first 10 games back from finger surgery, Evan Longoria hasn’t provided the spark to the Giants lineup that they were hoping for (5 hits in 32 atbats, a .156 average) but flashed the bat with a line drive down the left field line that he legged out for a double to lead off the second inning.
Crawford, whose .627 OPS entering Monday night was the lowest of anyone in the starting nine, drove home Longoria from second with a line drive over the center field wall. Crawford drilled a 2-0 fastball for his fourth home run of the season, briefly giving the Giants a 2-0 lead.
Crawford and Longoria each added singles in the late innings, making them the only Giants with multiple hits.
Tommy La Stella singled home Mike Yastrzemski in the bottom of the ninth, closing the deficit to 13-3.
Outfielder Luis González ended the night by making his third pitching appearance, all coming in the past eight days. Tossing up 40-something mph pitches that Kapler could only describe using a looping hand motion before the game, González finally allowed his first runs, as the Mets piled on three more runs.
Mariners beat Oakland to end losing streak
The Mariners had the right opponent to end a four-game losing streak: the Oakland A’s.
But would the Mariners get the big hits they have so much trouble getting?
Yes, yes and yes, and Seattle needed every one of them.
Rookie Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh and Eugenio Suarez had multi-run homers in consecutive innings, propelling a 7-6 victory over Oakland on Monday night at T-Mobile Park, keeping Seattle out of last place in the AL West.
The Mariners (18-25) got their 13th straight victory over Oakland (17-27), extending the franchise record for the longest winning streak against an opponent.
It was a great start to a six-game homestand for Seattle, which certainly needed a win after getting swept in a four-game series at Boston and finishing the road trip at 3-7.
The offensive explosion wasn’t immediate.
The Mariners loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the second inning thanks to Oakland starter Zach Logue’s wildness — two walks and a hit batter. But Raleigh struck out to end the threat, prolonging a theme of the Mariners being unable to come up with a big hit.
Soon, that would change for him and the Mariners.
Rodriguez changed the trend first.
After a Ty France double and a J.P. Crawford walk put runners at first and second with one out in the third inning, Rodriguez showed off his oppositefield power by knocking the ball into the right-center seats.