Pence loses ball, Cueto loses no-no
Maria Guardado
@mi_guardadoThe Giants won, but Johnny Cueto lost.
A brutal mistake by left fielder Hunter Pence ended Cueto's no-hit bid and cost the veteran right-hander a chance at history in the Giants¡¯ 5-4 win over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night.
Cueto did not allow a hit through his first five innings, and he opened the sixth by inducing a routine fly ball off the bat of Kik¨¦ Hern¨¢ndez. But Pence, who was making only his third start of the year in left field, appeared to lose the ball in the twilight, allowing it to fall for a leadoff triple. Austin Barnes followed with a groundout to knock in Hern¨¢ndez from third and cut the Giants¡¯ lead to 5-1.
¡°It¡¯s part of the game,¡± Cueto said in Spanish. ¡°My teammate, Pence, lost the ball. Those things happen. ... I know he felt really bad.¡±
Hern¨¢ndez¡¯s fly ball had a catch probability of 99 percent and an expected batting average of .060, according to Statcast.
"Johnny had the magic going,¡± Pence said. ¡°He had the rhythm going. He had everything working. It was one of those special nights that doesn't always come around. You could just feel it. To spoil that feels absolutely awful."
The inning further unraveled for Cueto, who walked Joc Pederson before drawing a mound visit from head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner. Cueto was dealing with a blister on his right big toe, but he convinced the Giants to leave him in the game after throwing a few warmup tosses.
¡°Our first obligation is to Johnny there and making sure he¡¯s healthy and strong,¡± manager Gabe Kapler said. ¡°The ball was coming out good. He was able to demonstrate that he could throw off the mound. He certainly let us know that he wanted that opportunity. He had earned it, and he was the right man for the job.¡±
Cueto, 34, couldn¡¯t regain his composure, though, issuing another walk to Cody Bellinger before misplacing a slider to Justin Turner, who crushed it out to left field for a three-run homer that pulled the Dodgers within one. Turner is now 12-for-35 (.343) with two home runs in his career against Cueto.
¡°Through five innings, Cueto could have shut anybody out, in my opinion,¡± Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. ¡°Kept us off balance, everything was at the hollow of the knee. I don't think we hit a ball hard all night, except for the home run by Justin. The ball that fell, you could see Cueto get a little disturbed by that. He was battling a little something with the foot, you could see that.¡±
Cueto departed after throwing 93 pitches in his 300th career start, allowing four runs on two hits over 5 2/3 innings. He was replaced by left-hander Tony Watson, who induced a popout from Max Muncy to end the inning. Tyler Rogers and Trevor Gott followed with three hitless innings to seal the win for the Giants and set up a rubber match for Sunday¡¯s series finale.
The victory offered a bit of solace for Pence, who was spotted apologizing to Cueto in the dugout after the sixth and appeared deeply upset by the misplay.
¡°You¡¯re just mad and you feel terrible,¡± Pence said. ¡°You feel sick to your stomach. Fortunately, the bullpen pitched outstanding. ... We kept the lead and we won the game, ultimately, so that makes it a lot easier. But at the same time, he deserves better. It can¡¯t happen, but it did.¡±
Slater, Yaz flex power vs. Kershaw
The bizarre sequence of events in the sixth inning overshadowed a career night by right fielder Austin Slater, who became only the seventh player to crush two home runs off Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw in a single game. Slater opened the scoring with a leadoff homer in the third before adding another solo shot in the fifth to secure his first career multi-homer game.
¡°I think this will go down as a career highlight,¡± Slater said. ¡°Obviously, he¡¯s a pitcher that has been the most dominant over probably the last 10-12 years. That will definitely be a special moment for me.¡±
Mike Yastrzemski also homered in the third, marking the first time Kershaw has surrendered three homers in a start against the Giants. Yastrzemski, who finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs, now has a team-high four home runs through the Giants¡¯ first 16 games of the season.
Donovan Solano extended his hitting streak to a career-high 13 games after going 3-for-5 with a double. He is hitting .462 on the season, the highest mark in the Majors.