Alex Cobb keeps Brewers grounded as Giants win fourth straight
The Giants made it quick and clean with Alex Cobb and three relievers shutting down Milwaukee.
SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants took a lot of heat for failing to acquire enough star power in the offseason, but you’d be hard-pressed exceed the kind of star quality performances they got Saturday evening in a 4-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Oracle Park.
Starting pitcher Alex Cobb threw seven shutout innings, improved to 2-1 and saw his earned run average sink to a miniscule 2.01.
Shortstop Thairo Estrada, who is posting the kind of numbers which would land him in the All-Star 2023 All-Star game, hit a two-run home run in the third inning to give Cobb some breathing room.
Finally, second baseman Brett Wisely hit the first home run of his major league career in addition to at least three sparkling plays defensively as the Giants won their fourth straight game before a crowd of 26,387.
About the only glitch was reliever John Brebbia losing sight of the strike zone in the ninth, but Camilo Doval came on to get his seventh save as the Giants improved to 15-17. It was the fifth straight defeat for the Brewers, who fell to 18-15.
Estrada’s home run was his fifth of the season, and he ranks in the top 10 in baseball in hits, is hitting .336 and has played in 31 of 32 games.
“Thairo’s an animal,” Cobb said. “Shows up every single day ready to go. Gives an incredible amount of effort in the batter’s box, on defense, on the bases. It just exhausts me to watch him go through a game. Dirt from head to toe, pants ripped, getting hit by pitches, never complains. Just goes out and posts every day.
“He’s definitely the heart and soul of this lineup right now.”
Estrada’s home came against Milwaukee starter Colin Rea (0-3), who also gave up a run-scoring double to Joey Bart in the second inning. Wisely’s two-out home run in the seventh was against Tyson Miller and was hit 412 feet to straight away center field.
“It was probably the best moment of my life,” Wisely said. “A home run in the big leagues? Everyone dreams of that.”
As for Estrada, Giants manager Gabe Kapler wasn’t holding back.
“It’s getting to the point where Thairo is one of the best players in baseball,” Kapler said. “Whenever you have a guy that can play up the middle like he does and be the type of offensive performer he is for us right now, he’s at the top of the league.”
When Cobb is rolling like he was Saturday, inducing ground ball after ground ball, it creates a synergy where defenders such as third baseman J.D. Davis, Estrada and Wisely are all eagerly awaiting the next play.
Cobb got 12 ground ball outs and threw 107 pitches, 68 of them strikes. He walked two and struck out five. Kapler even sent him out to the seventh having thrown 97 pitches and was rewarded with another zero.
Wisely made a sprawling stop up the middle in the sixth and rose to retire William Contreras and in the eighth tracked down a pop by Willy Adames that seemed headed for no man’s land in short right.
“When you have plays being made like that, you’re not pitching so delicately,” Cobb said. “You’re not trying to strike everybody out. You feel like the attacker when you have guys with range like that, making plays like that. I think we’re playing the best defense we’ve played in a couple of years right now.”
Cobb gave way to lefty Taylor Rogers in the eighth inning after holding Milwaukee scoreless through seven.
In the seventh, after Brice Turang’s infield single, Cobb got Owen Miller to hit into a 4-6-3 double play with Wisely and Estrada executing it perfectly, and retired Joey Wiemer on a fly to center for his final batter.
It was Cobb’s second-highest pitch count of the season, behind the 109 pitches he threw in a complete-game shutout of the Cardinals on April 24. Brebbia walked the first two hitters he faced in the ninth, struck out Turang, then gave up a run-scoring single to Miller.
Kapler brought in closer Camilo Doval, who got Tyrone Taylor and Christian Yelich on fly balls to send the crowd home happy.
“John is like one of the most dependable strike throwers that we have, up there with anybody, so it’s uncharacteristic to see him missing as much as he was,” Kapler said.
Cobb, Kapler believes, is doing pretty much what he would have done last season had he remained healthy.
“I think that’s the main focus for us with Cobb is help him stay healthy and strong and then get out of his way,” Kapler said. “He really understands pitching, he’s got a full arsenal that he can get in the zone with at any time. I find Alex to be as entertaining to watch as any pitcher in baseball because of his level of competitiveness.”
NOTABLE
— Milwaukee manager Craig Counsel was ejected in the third inning for arguing a pickoff move after there was a dispute on the engagement rule. Cobb threw to first base once, and and then again — except Bart had called time for a mound visit. Cobb checked to make sure he still had another pickoff move, and tried again.
The Brewers believed he had already exceeded his allotment.
— Wisely joined Blake Sabol and Bryce Johnson as rookies to hit their first major league home run.
Milwaukee manager Craig Counsel was ejected in the fourth inning for arguing that a pickoff move by Cobb attempting to get Willy Adames at first was a balk.