Giants Baseball Insider

Alex Cobb, Mike Yastrzemski lead SF Giants to 2-1 victory over A’s

The SF Giants offense continued to struggle on Tuesday night against the Oakland Athletics, but Alex Cobb led them to a win with a gem.

Marc Delucchi

Alex Cobb, Mike Yastrzemski lead SF Giants to 2-1 victory over A’s
Alex Cobb, Mike Yastrzemski lead SF Giants to 2-1 victory over A’s /
In this story:

The SF Giants defeated the Oakland Athletics 2-1 on Tuesday night, ending the team's losing streak at six games. With a crowd of more than 40,000 fans in attendance, likely aided by the #UniteTheBay effort from A's fans, the Giants improved to 55-47 on the season. The Giants remain tied with the Diamondbacks for second-place in the National League West, 3.5 games back of the Dodgers.

SF Giants starting pitcher Alex Cobb throws to first base during the fifth inning against the Oakland Athletics at Oracle Park on June 25, 2023.
SF Giants RHP Alex Cobb throws to first base against the A's on June 25, 2023 / Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

Back in the cooler confines of Oracle Park, Giants veteran starting pitcher Alex Cobb returned to form. Cobb completed six shutout innings, striking out nine while surrendering just three hits, a walk, and a hit batsman. It was the sixth time this season has not allowed a run in one of his starts, he has lasted at least six innings in all of those outings. Five of those six starts have come at home.

A's hitters missed more than a third of their swings against Cobb's pitches on Tuesday and were rarely able to make hard contact when they put the ball in play. In fact, the average ball in play against Cobb only recorded an 82.6 mph exit velocity.

The Giants offense looked just as overmatched by Oakland's pitching early. Righty Tayler Scott opened for the A's and worked around a double by Luis Matos (Giants Top 4 Prospect) in a shutout inning of work. Then, A's Manager Mark Kotsay handed things off to Ken Waldichuk.

Waldichuk was perfect through his first three innings of work, but put himself into a jam in the bottom of the fifth inning. Waldichuk walked Flores to lead off the frame before Patrick Bailey singled. With two on and nobody out, the Giants had Brett Wisely (Giants Top 22 Prospect) try to lay down a sacrifice bunt. Wisely's bunt went right back to Waldichuk, but the pitcher's throw to third base was wide and pulled Jace Peterson off the base. Everyone was safe.

Waldichuk struck out Austin Slater but allowed a deep enough fly out from Casey Schmitt to score Flores from third and give the Giants a 1-0 lead.

Giants manager Gabe Kapler turned to his well-rested top setup arm Tyler Rogers in the seventh inning and tried to get two innings out of the submariner. Rogers breezed through his first inning of work but surrendered a lead-off single to Aledmys Díaz to lead off the eighth.

Díaz advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Tony Kemp. Then, Zack Gelof hit a line shot down the right-field line, but first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. made a run-saving leaping catch. However, with two outs in the inning, a ground ball from J.J. Bleday found a hole and turned into an RBI single.

The Giants did not let the game stay tied for long. Wade started a one-out rally with a bloop single into shallow center field. A two-out walk by J.D. Davis brought Mike Yastrzemski to the plate with two outs and two runners on. Kotsay deployed left-handed reliever Sam Moll, but Yastrzemski lined an RBI double down the right-field line anyway.

A one-run lead was all Giants All-Star closer Camilo Doval would need. Doval recorded his league-leading 31st save of the season, striking out the A's in order.

The SF Giants will wrap up the series against the A's on Wednesday night. Left-hander Hogan Harris is currently listed as the probable starter for Oakland, while San Francisco has not made any announcement. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 PM Pacific.

Published
Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

Home/San Francisco Giants News