The secret is out. Johnny Cueto solved the mystery of the imploding bullpen with a simple yet effective strategy; don't let those guys anywhere near the game. Cueto picked up his 13th win, throwing nine innings of five-hit ball as San Francisco toppled Colorado 5-1 in Wednesday night action at AT&T Park.
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| A baby giraffe gives the Giants a lead. (SFGate Photo) |
The Giants stuck hard and fast in this one, getting two runs in the home first (like they were gonna score in the visitors' half?) courtesy of the Brandons. Grant Green worked Jorge De La Rosa for a one-out walk and Brandon Belt followed with one of those "Only at AT&T" moments.
Belt's deep fly to right saw Carlos Gonzalez sprint toward the wall, then pull back in preparation to play the carom. That wind off McCovey Cove does weird things to a baseball; there was no carom to play. Gonzalez watched helplessly as the ball struck at the base of the wall. It might have been caught, instead it died against the bricks. Gonzalez gave chase as Green sprinted home and Belt legged out a triple.
Buster Posey was caught looking on a third strike that wasn't in a classic man-at-third, less-than-two-out situation but Brandon Crawford ripped a two-out single to bring home Belt.
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| Nine innings work usually means good things. (SFGate Photo) |
Two singles, a strikeout and a walk put Cueto behind the eight ball in the fourth, loading the bases with one out. ROY hopeful Trevor Story's grounder wasn't hit hard enough to complete a 5-4-3, and Colorado was on the board. Cueto got Daniel Descalso looking to end the threat but the advantage had been shaved in half.
Cueto had needed 28 pitches to get through three innings. He used 27 to get through the fourth.
Cueto had needed 28 pitches to get through three innings. He used 27 to get through the fourth.
Cueto having thrown (that sounds like a Bee Gees album) 55 pitches wasn't a concern; anything under 60 is considered acceptable at that point. Still, those nine-pitch innings felt like "complete game". Approaching 15 per frame, you're wondering (dreading) when the bullpen is gonna get involved. Either that, or you're praying Cueto has a Bob Knepper night in him, especially holding a one-run lead.
Two runs; yeah, two runs would be better. Posey's inability to get a run home in the first wasn't costly. He left nothing in his quiver in the sixth, taking a fastball off the plate inside and yanking it deep into the left field seats for a solo homer (his 11th) and a 3-1 lead.
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| An empty bullpen is a beautiful thing. |
A Green single and Belt's 27th double set the table in the eighth, putting two men in scoring position for Posey. Make that one man. Reliever Gonzalez Germen sent one to the backstop to plate Green, send Belt to third, and make Manager Walt Weiss issue Posey a free pass. Crawford took advantage, lofting a fly to right center that allowed Belt to tag up and score.
Cueto took the hill in the ninth looking for the complete game but seeing the Rockies' 2-3-4 ahead. DJ LeMahieu struck out swinging, Arenado grounded out to short, and Gonzalez hit into a 3-1 put-out to end it. The ninth inning took just eight of Cueto's 118 pitches.
The best free-agent signing of 2016 struck out eighth and walked one with really just one rought frame. The bullpen was quiet. The sound of silence hadn't been that welcome since Simon and Garfunkel were a duo.
The good guys spread the wealth offensively with Belt registering the only multi-hit night. Posey, Crawford, Green, Angel Pagan, Mac Williamson, Jarrett Parker and (of course) Cueto also hit safely.
Thursday is a much-needed and rare day off at home. Action resumes on Friday with Arizona in town...again. Jeff Samardzija (8-5, 3.97 ERA) is slated to throw against the D-Backs' Patrick Corbin (4-6, 4.90). The two matched up last Saturday in Arizona, a game in which Samardzija went 7 1/3 and left with a 5-3 lead only to see the bullpen collapse. Where have we heard that before?
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