SF Giants lose to Padres 6-2, but Alex Cobb finishes 2022 on a high note

The SF Giants lost their penultimate game of the season to the Padres, but Alex Cobb finished his year with an excellent outing on short rest.

The SF Giants dropped a second straight game in their final series of the season, losing by a score of 6-2 to the San Diego Padres. With this loss, the team fell to 80-81 and will need to win their final game of the season to finish at .500.

Just before game time, the Giants announced that Carlos Rodón would not be making his scheduled start. Manager Gabe Kapler tapped veteran Alex Cobb to start the game on three days of rest and put together a strong outing to finish his first season with the Giants.

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Cobb pitched five innings and allowed just one run. In his 28 starts this season, Cobb went just 7-8, but was hurt by a combination of inconsistent run support and defense. He will finish the year with a 3.73 ERA and easily his best statistical season since 2017, when he was with the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Giants had two men reach base in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Austin Slater drew a walk, and Thairo Estrada singled off of Padres starting pitcher Sean Manaea. However, they failed to capitalize on those baserunners, and Manaea was able to cruise through five more scoreless innings. The Giants did not have another baserunner until the eighth.

Cobb managed to pitch around an error by first baseman David Villar in the first inning, allowing no runs to score. In the second, the Padres hit two straight singles but ultimately stranded both runners when Cobb struck out right fielder Brandon Dixon and forced Austin Nola to ground into a double play.

The Padres capitalized on Cobb’s only mistake in the third inning, a sinker right over the plate to All-Star third baseman Manny Machado, who hit a single through the infield to score Jurickson Profar.

Cobb struck out the side in the fifth, closing out his season with 151 strikeouts, setting a new single-season career high.

Kapler went to recent acquisition Jharel Cotton in the sixth, relieving Cobb. The heart of the Padres lineup was not fooled by Cotton, hitting three singles, a double, and drawing a walk. He allowed six baserunners and four runs before he was removed from the game. Luis Ortiz came in to try and stop the rally, but first, he allowed a single to Wil Myers that put the Padres up 5-0.

LaMonte Wade Jr. drew a leadoff walk against Padres reliever Luis Garcia. Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski hit a bloop single to advance Wade to second. With no outs, young infielder Ford Proctor hit into what should have been a double play, but an errant throw by shortstop Kim allowed Proctor to remain safe at first. Wade would score the Giants first run of the game.

Joc Pederson pinch hit for Joey Bart, and hit a ball to the deep part of center field, just missing his 24th homer of the season. Bryce Johnson, another September call-up, hit a single to score Proctor, bringing the Giants within three.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Kapler handed the ball to young fireballer Cole Waites, who was added to the roster earlier in the day. Waites got through two batters unscathed before allowing a home run to Wil Myers, which pushed the Padres lead to 6-2.

The SF Giants will finish off their season tomorrow in a day game against the Padres. The first pitch in San Diego is scheduled at 1:10 PM Pacific time.