LOS ANGELES — The first sweep at Dodger Stadium in 11 years didn’t come without some scares for the Giants.
A day after putting Wilmer Flores on the injured list, the Giants did the same with Alex Cobb, who has a tight oblique. During Sunday’s 7-3 win, they lost Casey Schmitt to a forearm injury and Scott Alexander to hamstring tightness, but they appeared to get mostly good news.
Cobb’s loss leaves the biggest hole, although he won’t be out long. He said he’s been dealing with some oblique tightness but felt he could start as soon as Wednesday. Giants manager Gabe Kapler said the Giants wanted to “protect him for the long haul.” Cobb expects to be back when eligible after 15 days.
“I fully anticipate being ready to go the day I’m eligible to come off the IL,” Cobb said. “And I probably feel I could have pitched before then.”
The Giants are no strangers to being without starters, but unlike the previous time they were down two, they don’t have off days to fill the gaps. Kapler said he feels good about the depth options on staff. The Giants do not seem to be leaning towards a promotion for top prospect Kyle Harrison, but Kapler said “everybody is in the discussion.”
The most likely fill-ins arrived over the weekend. Keaton Winn was recalled from Triple-A on Sunday, taking Cobb’s roster spot. On Saturday night, Tristan Beck pitched four shutout innings in relief of Alex Wood, lowering his ERA to 3.31. Beck has allowed just two earned runs over 18 innings in his last seven appearances.
Rookie Ryan Walker will be the opener on Monday, with Anthony DeSclafani going on Tuesday and Wood on Thursday. The Giants are TBD for Wednesday’s game.
The injury is a blow to the team, but it is also poorly timed for Cobb, who had a shot at making his first All-Star team. Cobb entered the day ranked fourth in the NL in FIP (3.25), eighth in ERA (3.09) and 12th in fWAR (1.6). His best previous opportunity was also wiped out by an injury a few weeks before the game. Cobb was likely to be selected in 2013 while with the Tampa Bay Rays but he got hit by a line drive and suffered a concussion.
Other Giants notes:
— Alexander felt hamstring tightness at Coors Field earlier this month and got an MRI. The Giants felt some rest would solve the issue, but with the adrenaline pumping in the bottom of the ninth, he had trouble on Freddie Freeman’s grounder to the right side.
The lefty will get another MRI on Monday, and it seems a decent bet he’ll hit the IL no matter the result. He hadn’t pitched in 10 days until Sunday and the Giants can’t go too short over the next week.
If that was his last game for a couple of weeks, Alexander at least got to see his new team sweep his old one.
“You just know that those guys are not used to that,” he said of the Dodgers. “They’re used to being on the other side of it. It’s kind of fun to be on the other side of the rivalry.”
— Schmitt got hit by a pitch in his last at-bat and came out in the bottom of the inning. An X-ray was negative, but the Giants are also a little short on infielders at the moment. Flores is out and Davis has been limited by an ankle sprain, although he’s very close to being an option to play the field again. David Villar went in at third after Schmitt came out.
— The Giants got a surprise when their Father’s Day gear arrived from Nike. They noticed right away that the catcher’s gear was a different shade of blue than in past years. Blake Sabol, who caught Sunday, was wearing special gear that matched what Will Smith was wearing on the other side.
“Someone pointed out that we’d be wearing Dodgers colors at Dodger stadium,” Sabol said, laughing.
The usual Father’s Day gear is more of a baby blue than the darker shades the Dodgers and Mets usually wear. It all worked out in the end for Sabol, who once hit a leadoff homer at Dodger Stadium during a USC-UCLA game. He had two hits Sunday, including an RBI single.
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