The splits weren’t in the Giants’ favor Thursday afternoon in Great American Ball Park, and it ended up splitting the four-game series against the Reds.
They faced a left-handed starter, a situation San Francisco has grappled with. They started Alex Cobb, who has been much less effective during day games compared to night.
Both trends materialized, as the Giants got one-hit by rookie lefty Andrew Abbott and Cobb stumbled through 4.1 strikeout-less innings. Wilmer Flores’ ninth-inning homer was the Giants’ only source of offense in a game in which they mustered just three base runners otherwise.
The only moral victory for the Giants (54-43) in the 5-1 loss was that only Cobb, Jakob Junis, and Mauricio Llovera pitched.
Cobb’s daytime struggles persisted in Great American Ball Park. In the first inning, he walked two batters, only to get saved by rookie phenom catcher Patrick Bailey.
Bailey caught Elly De La Cruz with a perfect throw to Casey Schmitt at second, showing off his pop time that grades as second-fastest in MLB. It was his 15th caught stealing in 36 chances, a rate that also ranks second.
In just two months of work, Bailey leads all catchers in defensive runs saved. He’s lifted the Giants on both sides of the ball, but has been particularly tremendous behind the dish.
Bailey prevented another run with a great tag and plate-block in the fourth, but he couldn’t rescue Cobb all day. The veteran walked Will Benson to start the third inning and then served up a homer to nine-hitter Luke Maile. Cobb likes to get ahead early in counts with offspeed pitches, but his slider hung high and over the plate.
Cobb’s counterpart, rookie Andrew Abbott, carved up the Giants. A Brett Wisely walk represented the lone Giants baserunner through three innings.
Wilmer Flores drew a walk in the fourth, but appeared gimpy trying to get back to first on a lineout later in the inning. Third base coach Mark Hallberg sent him home on a Luis Matos double anyway, where he got cut down by several steps.
On a day in which runs appeared tough to come by for the Giants against Abbott, taking a chance made sense. But Flores is one of the slowest players in baseball and was probably laboring even more than usual. De La Cruz’s 99.8 mph relay throw was hardly necessary to beat Flores.
One of the reasons the Giants had a tough time against Abbott is their injury situation. J.D. Davis has been reportedly under the weather, meaning Joc Pederson had to play without a platoon advantage. Thairo Estrada remains sidelined and will likely be out at least another two weeks. Mitch Haniger has been similarly unavailable and LaMonte Wade Jr., who may not have hit against the lefty starter anyway, tweaked his hamstring earlier in the series.
The Giants have a 90 OPS+ as a team against left-handed pitching all year. Not having Davis, Estrada and Haniger hurts their chances even more.
But Cobb didn’t keep the Giants in the game as they struggled. He departed after 4.1 innings having allowed five earned runs on nine hits and four walks. He didn’t strike a single batter out and generated just four total whiffs.
In night games this year, Cobb is 5-0 with a 1.83 ERA. But in afternoon games, Cobb’s ERA before Thursday was 4.42. The series finale only continued that strange trend.
On Wednesday, the Giants lost despite limiting the Reds to seven 1-2-3 innings. Thursday was their turn to go down quietly.
Next up: a three-game series in Washington D.C. against the last-place Nationals, who are 20 games under .500.
For that series, the Giants will start Alex Wood in the opener, Logan Webb on Saturday and have listed TBA for the series finale. A one-game pit stop in Detroit — a makeup game — on July 24 wraps up San Francisco’s longest road trip of the season.