SAN FRANCISCO – In many ways, Johnny Cueto was the easy choice to start opening the Giants’ 2021 home. He is a mound performer and performs best in front of an audience that has set the stage for a memorable Friday afternoon at Oracle Park.
Cueto, always fun, threw 8 innings of 2/3 of balls with a single run, and Brandon Crawford added a double-double, double, to lead the Giants to a 3-1 victory over the Rockies in their first game in face their San Francisco fans on September 29, 2019.
Cueto allowed just four shots, cleared seven and went one in the longest outing of 2016, becoming the first Giants starter to make a winning decision this year.
“I thought it was as good an outing as I saw Johnny playing,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “Only completely controlled over each situation. Perfectly synchronized with [catcher] destruction [Posey]. Just a remarkable, brave, efficient performance. ”
Cueto found himself stuck in a pitcher duel most of the afternoon with Rockies left-hander Austin Gomber, who prevented San Francisco for six innings before Crawford finally broke the deadlock.
After collecting one hit and two walks in the first six innings against Gomber, the Giants managed to drive out the 27-year-old southpaw at the bottom of the seventh when he pitched a pair. of walks to Darin Ruf and Buster Posey with one out. Rockies manager Bud Black later brought him right, Tyler Kinley, who launched another walk to hitter Alex Dickerson to load the bases.
That brought Crawford, who led a 1-2 slider from Kinley into the center-right-field goal to place two runs and give the Giants their first lead of the afternoon.
“It was definitely special,” Crawford said. “Just to be there with the fans again in the crowd, to return home and be able to achieve great success in a big situation. Everything was quite special and it was a lot of fun. ”
Cueto closed in the ninth inning, but gave up the triple to Chris Owings, who scored with a sacrifice to reduce the Giants’ lead to 3-1. Kapler then went out to the mound to check on Cueto, attracting boos from fans who were eager to see the 35-year veteran turn into a complete game.
“It’s not the first time I’ve been booed, I promise you that,” Kapler said with a laugh. “I understand. Fans wanted to see Johnny finish that game. I wanted to see Johnny finish that game. Everyone in the shelter wanted to see Johnny finish that game. ”
Kapler had Jake McGee closer to ready to go to the bullpen, but decided to stay with Cueto and give him the opportunity to record the last two outings.
“He asked me how I was feeling and I told him I was fine,” Cueto said in Spanish. “He told me he was ready and he talked to Posey, who told me I should take the ball and continue. [First baseman Brandon] Belt said the same thing, so I went back to the mound. ”
Cueto withdrew Ryan McMahon, but gave up a single Trevor Story on 118, prompting Kapler to bring in McGee, who hit Sam Hilliard on three pitches to end the game.
The Giants starters have now thrown at least five innings and have not given up more than three rounds in each of the club’s first seven games, lowering the starting staff ERA to 2.28 this season. Cueto’s start is particularly encouraging, as he recorded a career-high 5.40 ERA in 2020, his first full season back since Tommy John’s surgery. He is trying to return as he enters the final guaranteed year of his contract with the Giants.
“This has been one of my best starts lately, because I didn’t do very well last year,” Cueto said. “I will continue to work as I normally do. There’s a lot of baseball left, so I just have to keep doing what I’m doing. ”
After his season debut in Seattle last week, Cueto said he is looking forward to launching again in front of fans as he feeds on the energy of the crowd during his outings. He showed up on Friday afternoon, while Cueto used his commercial shimmies – including a shy triple to hit CJ Cron to finish seventh – to interrupt the pleasure attack time and provide entertainment. fan quality.
“I think Johnny has an entertainment aspect and I think it’s a good thing, because he supports it,” Black said. “I think he likes being there. I think he likes the big scene. He was excited. I think the most important thing is that he plays and competes. He knows what his job is and I think it’s good that he does it with a little flair. ”