With two outs in the third inning, a bouncing ball headed Casey Schmitt’s way. Off Nick Senzel’s bat, it looked like just any other grounder.
But this one hugged the third-base line and pulled Schmitt away from home plate. Schmitt, a Gold Glove-caliber defender, took a beat before throwing a 91.1-mph missile across the diamond.
Schmitt’s throw sailed high, allowing Senzel to reach on an infield single. But a scoring change made the otherwise nondescript change monumental.
The play retroactively got changed to a throwing error on Schmitt. He won’t care at all about the back of his baseball card.
Because the error — and later Austin Slater’s Superman-style diving catch — allowed Alex Cobb to nearly author one of the most special regular season nights at Oracle Park. Cobb came one out away from pitching the 18th no-hitter in Giants franchise history.
Even though Spencer Steer broke up Cobb’s no-no with an RBI double in the ninth, Cobb’s performance invigorated an Oracle Park crowd and a Giants team that has suddenly rediscovered its swagger.
“Still fun. I wasn’t mad, sad,” Cobb said postgame. “I was just: ‘Alright, let’s finish it off’ kind of thing. So many things have to go right for that to happen.”
With his career-high 131st pitch, Cobb struck out Elly De La Cruz to finish his second complete game of the season. The 35-year-old All-Star struck out eight and allowed just three base runners, leading the Giants (69-63) to their third straight win — a 6-1 victory over the Reds.
“I think I kind of feel for Alex, but also I think you have a sense of pride for what he accomplished,” manager Gabe Kapler said postgame. “It’s an amazing feat to pitch a no-hitter, it’s also an amazing feat to get within an out of a no-hitter.”
Cobb hadn’t earned a win since July 5 — his final start before his first All-Star game. His delivery was out of whack, he said, and he felt lost. He worked overtime with pitching coaches J.P Martinez and Andrew Bailey in search of a fix.
Although Cobb’s second half splits have been concerning (5.48 ERA to 2.91 ERA), part of the reason the veteran hasn’t gotten in the win column is because of the Giants’ torpedoing offense.
But San Francisco’s lineup seems to be coming around. They averaged 8.4 hits and 3.7 runs in the 15 games leading up to Tuesday night.
The trend continued behind Cobb against the Reds. San Francisco scored first on a balk, then on a two-out double into the right-field corner from Luis Matos. The rookie outfielder has quietly been crushing left-handed pitchers, posting an .812 OPS against southpaws entering the day.
After Patrick Bailey’s seventh home run of the season, the Giants had put up five runs in the first three innings.
Cobb, working with Bailey, retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced. The only Reds base runner was the one who reached on Schmitt’s “error.” That meant Cobb’s no-hitter stayed intact — though he said postgame that he didn’t realize as much until the end of the seventh inning.
“I noticed it,” Cobb said when asked if he saw the hit taken away on the scoreboard. “It allowed me to not think about any type of pressure on pitches to try to keep the no-hitter preserved.”
The righty punched out Tyler Stephenson and Christian Encarnacion-Strand in the fifth inning for his fourth and fifth strikeouts. At that point, Cobb had racked up 12 whiffs — all on his split-fingered fastball.
Cobb needed just 12 pitches to retire the side in the sixth, benefitting from a nice scoop at first base by J.D. Davis.
Back out for the seventh at 82 pitches, Cobb struck out Spencer Steer on a wicked splitter in the dirt to lead off the inning. To finish it, he induced a routine groundout with his 99th pitch.
Of course, there was no action in the Giants’ bullpen.
Earlier in the year, Cobb tossed his first complete game shutout since 2012. He’d never thrown a no-hitter in his career. The closest he came was on Sept. 11, 2014, when he carried a no-no into the eighth inning in Yankee Stadium.
But at 35 years old and a first-time All-Star, he’s pitching better this year than he ever has.
A couple weeks ago, Cobb took a picture of all the souvenir balls he’s accumulated this season — his complete game shutout ball, his 1,000th career strikeout, his All-Star Game. He revealed that earlier in his career, when he dealt with a plethora of injuries, he felt like he didn’t want to play anymore. But his wife encouraged him to keep going.
“It’s special when you have those thoughts and you’re able to keep doing them, keep collecting all those memories that you’re going to have for the rest of your life,” Cobb said.
Even as Cobb’s pitch count rose above 100 — and approached his season-high of 109 — he kept delivering strikes. And the Reds kept swinging through his splitter. Cobb’s seventh strikeout sent Stephenson packing again to begin the eighth inning.
Just like he did the previous night when Kyle Harrison fanned 11 in his spectacular home debut, Kapler trusted his starter. He was certainly monitoring Cobb’s pitch count, but noted that there wasn’t a drop-off in velocity or location. When a player has a chance to do something remarkable, Kapler is going to cut them loose.
“That’s a ton of faith, ton of trust,” Cobb said. “Allowing me to extend myself in that outing. I think he knows where I’m at in my career, and how special a night like (this) means to myself and my family. Thankful he let me do that.”
Nobody in the Giants’ bullpen started to warm up, but several relievers stood and watched above the railing, taking in the moment. They had the best view for Slater’s ridiculous diving catch to end the eighth inning.
It was the type of magical catch seemingly every magical game has. The ball in Slater’s glove survived both the impact of the ground and a replay review.
“When Slates made that catch, I started to think maybe it was going to be one of those nights,” Cobb said.
Slater covered 79 feet of center field grass, sprinting at 29 feet per second. Cobb threw his arms — including his throwing arm, with 113 pitches weighing it down — in the air and jumped up and down when he realized Slater made the play.
“I was just really locked in on the game, really wanted it for (Cobb),” Slater said. “Knew what was at stake. It was a do-or-die play, everything was on the line, so I just went for it.”
The Oracle Park crowd rose to its feet as Cobb emerged from the dugout steps for the ninth.
With one pitch, he discarded Noelvi Marte. Two to go.
Then Senzel, Cincinnati’s lone base runner, took Cobb’s 199th pitch for ball-four.
TJ Friedl came inches away from a base hit down the third-base line, but his squib-shot veered foul — much to Cobb’s amusement. Then he flew out to right field.
One to go.
Steer record-scratched what was so close to a legendary night for Cobb. After he fanned De La Cruz to end the game, he met Bailey at the mound and slapped hands with his teammates in the dugout.
A night doesn’t have to be historic for it to be unforgettable.