Alex Cobb very nearly made history last night against the Reds. After throwing eight no-hit innings against a very spunky Cincinnati offense, Cobb would retire two of the first three batters his faced and it looked like he was going to give the Giants their first no-no since 2015. Unfortunately, Spencer Steer had other plans and he cracked an RBI double to end the no-hitter and the shutout.
Obviously that his a huge bummer for Cobb as good as he pitched. However, it does bring to the forefront that it has been a quite a while since the Giants have had a no-hitter. With that in mind, lets take a look at the last five Giants no-hitters.
Here are the last 5 SF Giants no-hitters
Chris Heston
Chris Heston isn't exactly the name you would expect to see on this sort of list given the number of amazing pitchers that played for the Giants in recent years. However, Heston did indeed get the most recent Giants no-hitter (and as a rookie!) on 6/9/15 against the Mets. Heston would have had a perfect game except for the fact that he hit three batters in the game which is honestly kind of impressive.
Tim Linecum x 2
While Heston's name is a bit surprising, that Tim Lincecum's name is here most certainly not. The Freak was one of the most dominant pitchers in the league at his peak and he got the first of his two no-hitters on July 13th, 2013 against the Padres. It wasn't the prettiest no-hitter as he still allowed five runners to reach base, but he got the job done.
Lincecum would get the Padres AGAIN the very next season when he no-hit them on June 25th. This one was even more dominant as he allowed just a single San Diego baserunner. It is sad that Linecum's career went sideways like it did, because man was he fun when he was on.
Matt Cain
Matt Cain's start against the Astros on June 13, 2012 was particularly special. Not only did he complete the no-hitter, it was also the first (and only) perfect game in Giants history. It was an added bonus that the Giants offense came to play that day as they put up 10 runs on Houston, but Cain was untouchable that day and did not need the extra breathing room.
Jonathan Sanchez
Finally, we come to Jonathan Sanchez's no-hitter which was the first Giants no-no since 1976 as he no-hit the Padres (man San Diego had a tough time) on July 10, 2009. Sanchez very nearly got his own perfect game in this one, but an error by Juan Uribe gave the Padres a baserunner in the eighth inning.