Orioles shut out by Giants, 4-0, as Alex Cobb dominates his former club
Alex Cobb received the largest contract given to a pitcher in Orioles history. On Saturday night, he showed his former team what could have been.
Cobb shut out Baltimore for 7 2/3 innings, allowing just five hits and striking out seven, in the San Francisco Giants’ 4-0 victory to even the clubs’ weekend series at Oracle Park.
On the verge of the 2018 season, Cobb signed a four-year, $57 million deal with Baltimore, going 7-22 with a 5.10 ERA over 41 starts before he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels with one year left on the contract. Owed $4.5 million in deferred payments from that agreement, Cobb will receive the fifth-largest paycheck from the Orioles (36-22) of any player this season.
Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish matched Cobb for two innings, but the Giants (29-29) struck for three runs in the third, the same frame Baltimore third baseman Gunnar Henderson exited with low back discomfort. Bradish lasted only one more inning before handing the game to the bullpen. After Bryan Baker inherited loaded bases from Keegan Akin and left them that way in the fifth, Cionel Pérez allowed an inherited runner to score on Bakers’ line in the sixth.
Bruce Zimmermann, an Ellicott City native, pitched two scoreless innings in his first major league appearance of the season.
Around the horn
- Before the game, the Orioles selected the contract of corner infielder/outfielder Josh Lester, a 28-year-old who they signed to a minor league contract this offseason after he made his major league debut last year with Detroit. Manager Brandon Hyde said they brought up Lester, a left-handed hitter who hit 14 home runs with an .888 OPS for Triple-A Norfolk, because they are facing a string of right-handed starters in the upcoming days.
- Baltimore had space for Lester on the active roster because it placed left-handed reliever Danny Coulombe on the bereavement list; Hyde said he is expected back for the start of the Orioles’ series in Milwaukee on Tuesday. The Orioles opened a spot on their 40-man roster by transferring right-handed reliever Dillon Tate (right elbow flexor strain) to the 60-day injured list, a move that Hyde said was procedural and did not reflect a change in Tate’s health.
- Outfielder Colton Cowser, the Orioles’ third-ranked prospect according to Baseball America, rejoined Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday after missing almost three weeks with a left quadriceps injury. He went 2-for-3 before a planned exit in the sixth. Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez pitched six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and five walks, in his first start since being optioned to Norfolk.
This story will be updated.
Orioles at Giants
Sunday, 4:05 p.m.
TV: MASN2, MLB Network
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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