Cobb rights ship, leads Giants to shutout win

SAN FRANCISCO -- Alex Cobb closed out his first half on a high note, firing six scoreless innings to help the Giants snap a four-game skid with a 2-0 win over the Mariners on Wednesday night at Oracle Park.

Cobb scattered six hits, walked none and struck out seven to propel the Giants to their first win in July and fend off their first home sweep of the year. The 35-year-old veteran will head into the All-Star break with a 2.91 ERA over 16 starts, the fifth-best mark in the National League.

While he was briefly sidelined with a left oblique issue last month, Cobb has established himself as a durable and reliable presence atop San Francisco’s rotation, with the Giants winning nine of his last 10 starts dating to May 6.

“I think that we just take a little bit more responsibility when the guys are kind of down to try to pick it up and win the game from our end as much as we can,” Cobb said. “You’re going to have skids throughout the year. You’ve got to stop them and not let those long stretches take away from that great 10-game win streak we had.”

Cobb’s pitch count stood at 88 pitches through six innings, but he was making only his second start since coming off the 15-day IL, so the Giants opted to turn the game over to their bullpen in the seventh. Taylor and Tyler Rogers and All-Star Camilo Doval combined to pitch the final three innings and seal the Giants’ eighth shutout win of the year, with Doval bouncing back from a rough outing on Monday to convert his 25th save of the year, tied with the Blue Jays’ Jordan Romano for the most in the Majors.

“It was great for [Cobb] to come out and just pound the strike zone, use all of his pitches, mix them well, hit spots,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “I’m not sure that his stuff was like A-plus. It was solid, but it was plenty to get us through those six innings. I actually think it was an interesting decision to get him out of the game. It was mostly based on how many pitches he’s built up to since he came off the IL. He was pitching very, very well. I think he was fully in control.”

Cobb’s gem helped take some pressure off the Giants’ slumping offense, which produced only two runs on eight hits -- including three from Wilmer Flores -- against left-hander Tommy Milone and four Mariners relievers.

The Giants scored both of their runs on fly balls from LaMonte Wade Jr., who opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the third and then reached on a costly defensive miscue by Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez in the fifth. Wade appeared to send a routine fly ball to the warning track with a pair of runners on base, but Rodríguez allowed the ball to hit off his glove and drop for an error, scoring Austin Slater from second base and extending San Francisco’s lead to 2-0.

Cobb felt he wasn’t getting the best shapes on his pitches due to some issues with his delivery, but he remained effective on Wednesday, leaning heavily on his sinker (51%) to stymie the Mariners’ hitters. Cal Raleigh and Rodríguez each produced leadoff doubles in the fifth and sixth inning, respectively, but Cobb managed to strand both runners thanks to nice defensive plays by infielders Casey Schmitt and J.D. Davis. Schmitt made a slick, spinning stop on J.P. Crawford’s hard-hit grounder to end the fifth, while Davis came charging in to field Eugenio Suárez’s chopper down the third-base line and made a strong throw to first to end the sixth.

“I can definitely navigate a lineup without my best stuff, but it makes it a little bit more challenging,” Cobb said. “I need some big pitches and also need some balls to find some people and some good plays behind me, which we had tonight.”

While Cobb is pleased with his overall performance this season, he said he’s hoping to provide more consistent length in the second half. Kapler said Cobb will be “critical” for the club down the stretch, though the Giants could still explore ways to give him the occasional breather to ensure he stays healthy and productive for the entire season. Cobb and Logan Webb are the only pitchers who have been used exclusively out of the rotation this season, so the Giants will be relying heavily on them to continue to lead the pitching staff in the second half.

“I do look at my numbers overall and say that looks like a good body of work,” Cobb said. “I just feel like there’s more consistency that I could probably get better at.”