While You Were Asleep, Alex Cobb Lost A No-Hitter With 2 Outs In The 9th

Is there anything more demoralizing in sports? Giving up a walk-off home run is heartbreaking, but you see that all the time in baseball. Last night was Alex Cobb's 227th career start. It's the closest he's ever been to a no-hitter. The pitch count was quite high. Under normal circumstances, I'm guessing manager Gabe Kapler would've taken them out of the game earlier. But he's a veteran pitcher in the league for a long time. They gave him a chance to finish it off, and he couldn't quite do it.

While he failed to pitch the no-hitter last night, Cobb was brilliant. And for the most part, he's been sensational this season. At age 35, the 12-year veteran is having one of his best seasons. He made the All-Star team this year for the first time in his career. He's become a student of that wonderful pitching lab that they have in San Francisco that's turned careers around. He's bought into their system, and he's thrived.

Spencer Steer is responsible for breaking up Cobb's no-hitter. I would always like to hear from the player responsible for breaking up a no-hitter or a perfect game. Do they earn more respect the next day when they walk into the clubhouse? He is the guy who single-handedly saved them from embarrassment. With that said, given how nasty Cobb was last night, I don't know if I can call getting no-hit an embarrassment.

Why is it accepted that it's OK for a manager to keep a veteran pitcher out there for 131 pitches? I understand he had a no-hitter going, but if this would've been a 25-year-old, he would've gotten pulled after the sixth inning. Alex Cobb is a good pitcher, but he is in danger of getting injured every bit as much as a 20-something is. He even has a long list of injury history. I'm all for it, but it's interesting how when pitchers reach a certain age, the pitch count stops mattering if you have something special going. It feels like recently, the pitchers who are more likely to throw no-hitters aren't the ones with the best stuff, but the most durability. 

So yeah, just wanted to share this as something that those on the East Coast may have missed last night. Despite being unable to finish off the no-hitter, this was the cherry on top of what's been a phenomenal season for Alex Cobb. He's been in the league for a long time. Guys like that deserve the shine.