There hadn't been much luck involved in Alex Cobb's resurgent first month of the season. He was, simply, pitching as well as he ever had in an Orioles uniform.
Monday night's 7-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays might not change the latter, but he'll have plenty more to lament when looking back at what could have been this time around.
Cobb retired the first six batters he faced on 12 pitches, but the third inning brought an onslaught that turned things around on him just as quickly.
A pair of hard-hit infield singles that shortstop Andrew Velazquez got to up the middle but couldn't turn into outs put two runners on. The first was indisputable; on the second, Velazquez was ranging far to his left and couldn't get the ball out of his glove for a shovel to second base, making him throw it late to first. Both advanced when Cobb briefly bobbled a comebacker and had to go to first with it instead of getting the lead runner.
Cobb tried to get a force play at home on a swinging bunt two pitches later, but his attempt was just late. Two pitches after that, he hung a split-finger fastball to Randal Grichuk that was cracked for a three-run home run to center field.
All that damage came in just 11 pitches.
The veteran right-hander quickly allowed two more hits but stranded them in the third, setting off a streak of 13 straight hitters retired before a two-out walk in the seventh inning tested his luck again. Renato Nunez could only knock down a stinger down the first-base line by Cavan Biggio before Grichuk hit a soft looper to short right field to chased Cobb from the game.
His 6? innings were the most the Orioles (12-10) have gotten from a starter all season, though that will be little consolation. His ERA climbed from 2.75 to 3.76.
