Giants Baseball Insider

Blake Sabol, Tristan Beck stand out in SF Giants 7-5 loss to Brewers

Alex Cobb's worst start of the season sunk the SF Giants shot at a sweep, but a trio of rookies still had some impressive highlights.
Marc Delucchi|
Blake Sabol, Tristan Beck stand out in SF Giants 7-5 loss to Brewers
Blake Sabol, Tristan Beck stand out in SF Giants 7-5 loss to Brewers

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San Francisco GiantsMilwaukee Brewers

The SF Giants finished their road trip with a 7-5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday afternoon, falling short of a rare four-game sweep on the road. Nevertheless, the Giants remain above .500 at 27-26 and just 4.5 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top spot in the National League West.

On a humid day in Milwaukee, starting pitcher Alex Cobb had his worst start of the season and arguably his Giants career. Cobb put himself in trouble in the bottom of the first inning, walking lead-off hitter Christian Yellich before allowing back-to-back singles to Owen Miller and William Contreras. With one run in and no outs recorded, Cobb tried to limit the damage, but Brian Anderson capitalized on a hanging sinker for a two-run double that put Milwaukee ahead 3-0.

While Brewers starter Colin Rea held the Giants scoreless in the first two innings, Cobb allowed Milwaukee's lead to grow in the second. Cobb surrendered two more singles and another walk before hanging a splitter to catcher William Contreras. Contreras blasted the pitch nearly 110 mph for a three-run homer that gave the Brewers a 7-0 lead.

Cobb did not allow another run but continued struggling with command for the rest of his outing. He struck out five across four innings of work but needed 95 pitches and surrendered seven runs on seven hits and four walks. It was the second time in Cobb's past three outings that he has walked at least four hitters, a rare stretch of inconsistent command from the veteran righty.

Those two rallies would prove to be enough for the Brewers to end the Giants three-game winning streak and avoid getting swept at home. With that said,

Mike Yastrzemski hit a solo home run to get the Giants on the scoreboard in the top of the third inning against Rea, but a real comeback effort did not get underway until the seventh inning.

As Rea's pitch count increased, Michael Conforto and Mitch Haniger led off the top of the seventh with singles. With two runners on, Blake Sabol (Giants #33 prospect) turned a hanging 0-2 curveball from Rea into a three-run homer that cut the Giants' deficit to 7-4.

Brewers manager Craig Counsell responded by pulling Rea and turning to his bullpen. Righty Joel Payamps allowed a double to Brandon Crawford, who scored on a sacrifice fly by Brett Wisely (Giants #22 prospect).

The Giants were able to continue cutting into Milwaukee's lead thanks to an excellent outing from rookie righty Tristan Beck (Giants #19 prospect). Beck retired all nine hitters he faced across three innings of work while racking up four strikeouts. Another rookie, Ryan Walker (Just missed the list), struck out one in a perfect inning as well.

Despite the trio of rookies stepping up, the Giants' offensive attack proved to be too little, too late. The Brewers turned to their dominant closer Devin Williams with two outs in the eighth inning. The former Rookie of the Year and All-Star retired the first three San Francisco hitters he faced before walking Crawford to bring the tying run to the plate with two outs.

Giants manager Gabe Kapler deployed infielder Wilmer Flores as a pinch hitter in the clutch situation, but Williams struck out the veteran to finish the game.

Now the SF Giants will return to the Bay Area and begin a six-game homestand on Monday night. Hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Giants will have Anthony DeSclafani making the start, facing off against Rich Hill.

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Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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