Juan Soto, Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts are making a roughly combined $65 million this season — almost exactly as much as the 10 Giants who started on Sunday, including Alex Cobb.
The Padres’ talented trio went 8-for-12 — including two home runs — and drove in all four of San Diego’s runs. They alone doubled San Francisco’s hit total and led the Padres to a 4-0 win.
With the results, the Giants (70-67) dropped three of four to their division rivals. The game was so lopsided, Fernando Tatis Jr. sat nonchalantly in the outfield grass during a ninth-inning replay review.
All of the Padres’ run production came against Cobb, who was one out away from his first no-hitter in his last start. The leadoff hitter, Ha-Seong Kim, ensured he wouldn’t flirt with another one.
The veteran’s splitter wasn’t nearly as dangerous as it was against the Reds. He left it up in the zone too often, including when Juan Soto smacked an opposite-field homer off him in the first.
That two-run shot was Soto’s third in the four-game series. The all-world slugger has torched the Giants this year, blasting six home runs in 10 games and hitting over .400.
Soto’s home run also improved his career line against Cobb to 7-for-10 with two homers and a double.
It wasn’t just Soto in the first, though. Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts also tagged Cobb splitters for base hits, putting San Diego up 3-0.
In the first innings this series, the Padres outscored the Giants seven to one.
Far from a smooth transition off the most laborious outing of his career, Cobb needed 32 pitches to escape the first inning.
In his near no-no, Cobb threw 83 splitters — more than anyone in the pitch tracking era. Pitching on regular rest after his career-high of 131 pitches overall, it’s quite possible the 35-year-old experienced some fatigue.
Machado drilled a sinker over the middle for a solo home run in the third, extending SD’s edge to 4-0.
Cobb’s afternoon — an operative word, given Cobb’s struggles in day games — ended after three innings. He threw only 58 pitches, so perhaps his arm will be fresher for his next start.
Aided by a head-scratching base running decision by Bogaerts, Winn tossed five scoreless frames. As an extra pitcher added to the expanded September roster, the rookie could provide valuable depth for the pitching staff.
Wilmer Flores’ double off the top of the wall in the sixth inning was San Francisco’s first hit since the third. Seth Lugo, a command over power arm, is the type of pitcher who has tended to give the Giants issues.
Flores had the Giants’ only extra base hit. They struck out nine times and left eight on base while getting blanked.
The Padres looked like the team they were supposed to be this year when they loaded up the roster. But despite the fifth-best run differential in the National League, they’re essentially out of the postseason. They’ve been good at baseball but bad at winning games.
Practically the only thing the Padres can do now is play spoiler. For the Giants, who close the season with seven games against the Dodgers and three more against the Padres, that’s a scary thought.
