SF Giants’ Alex Cobb loses no-hitter with two outs in ninth

Alex Cobb came up one out short of Giants history.

The San Francisco pitcher lost a no-hitter with two outs in the top of the ninth inning Tuesday night, giving up a double to Reds infielder Spencer Steer. 

Somewhat surprisingly, manager Gabe Kapler let Cobb finish the job even after Steer reached base. Cobb struck out Reds star Elly De La Cruz with his career-high 131st pitch to slam the door on the 6-1 win. It was the sixth complete game of his 12-year MLB career and his second this year.

Though it was a brutal close call for Cobb, it was a critical win for the Giants. The win, their third straight, moved them to 69-63 and the final wild card position.

The game had the whiff of destiny in the eighth, when the Reds’ Will Benson hit a blooper to shallow left-center. Giants center fielder Austin Slater laid out for a diving catch that was confirmed after a replay review, and Cobb had a no-hitter heading into the Reds’ 8-9-1 hitters in the ninth.

But it was not to be. Cobb sandwiched two ninth-inning outs around a walk before giving up the hit to Steer. It would have been the 18th no-hitter in franchise history, the 10th since the team moved to San Francisco, and the first since Chris Heston’s in 2015.

Earlier in the game, Casey Schmitt was retroactively charged with an error for an errant throw that let Nick Senzel reach first, with the scoring change keeping Cobb’s no-no alive. Senzel and a ninth-inning walk were the only runners to reach base before Steer’s double. Cobb said on the Giants’ post-game broadcast that he didn’t realize he had a no-hitter going until the seventh inning because of the reversed error ruling.