Alex Cobb has provided the Giants with consistent starts this season, something the team hasn’t seen from anyone else not named Logan Webb. He has a trip to Seattle for the All-Star Game on his resume to prove it.
Cobb’s only flaw in his second season with San Francisco has been his starts during day games. That trend continued into his outing Thursday afternoon against the Cincinnati Reds, which started at 9:35 a.m. PT.
Cobb walked the leadoff batter Elly De La Cruz on five pitches and never found a rhythm. The Reds had a baserunner in all but one inning Cobb worked, tagging him for five earned runs on nine hits and four walks.
The offense didn’t back up Cobb, and the Giants lost 5-1 to split the series after taking the first two games at Great American Ball Park.
Cobb now owns a 3.15 ERA on the season. He is 1-3 with a 5.05 ERA in eight day-game starts, compared to 5-0 with a 1.83 ERA in 11 starts at night.
“I think that whenever you have something that’s way blown up out of proportion, you have to look into it,” Cobb told reporters in Cincinnati after the game. “After you asked me that, my only real other blow-up game was a day game in Milwaukee. I can imagine those numbers are skewed.”
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Cobb has allowed more than three runs just three times all season -- seven runs in a 7-5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on May 28, five runs Thursday in Cincinnati and four runs in a 6-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies on June 8.
All three of those outings were afternoon games.
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"Honestly, throughout my career, I’ve enjoyed day games,” Cobb said. “It is a little bit tougher going from the West Coast to the East Coast and getting adjusted to the time zone. But I usually do enjoy just waking up and going, not having to fill your day with stuff to stay busy."
Cobb likely won't start again on the Giants' current road trip, which heads to the nation's capital for a weekend series against the Washington Nationals and finishes up with a rescheduled game Monday against the Detroit Tigers. He's currently slotted to toe the rubber during the Bay Bridge Series against the Oakland Athletics at Oracle Park.
Both of those games are scheduled at night, which favors his current season-long trend. But don't call him the Nightman.
