Combo of Rogers, McGee is creating highlights
When Rogers releases his 84-mile per hour fastball, his knuckles nearly scrape the dirt on the pitcher’s mound.
>> After dominating the Cincinnati Reds into the sixth inning of Wednesday’s game and blowing a 93-mile per hour fastball past Nick Castellanos for his fourth strikeout, Giants starter Johnny Cueto made an unexpected call for help.
Manager Gabe Kapler, trainer Dave Groeschner and catcher Curt Casali immediately walked to the mound at Oracle Park to check on Cueto, who left the field in frustration alongside Groeschner in the midst of another brilliant outing.
The Giants’ bullpen picked up where Cueto left off, tossing 3 1/3 innings of scoreless ball to cap off a 3-0 win and secure a series victory over the Reds, but the triumph was clouded by concerns about Cueto, who was initially diagnosed with a tight lat muscle.
After being shut out in Monday’s series opener, the Giants (84) muscled their way back from a four-run first-inning deficit to win 7-6 on Tuesday before returning the favor and blanking the Reds in Wednesday’s series finale. The Giants wrapped up their first homestand of the season with a 5-1 record and will now head to the east coast for the first time since 2019 for series against the Marlins and Phillies.
Cueto threw 8 2/3 innings of one-run ball against the Rockies in Friday’s home opener in his best start since the 2016 season and was building off the effort with another outstanding showing against the Reds before he needed to exit Wednesday’s game. Lefthander Caleb Baragar took over and needed two pitches to retire Reds first baseman Joey Votto before Logan Webb, Tyler Rogers and Jake McGee finished off the game.
Rogers and McGee made their major-league leading eight appearances out of the bullpen Wednesday while Webb came in from the bullpen for the first time following a pregame announcement that he was losing his spot in the rotation to Alex Wood, who is set to be activated from the injured list on Sunday in Miami.
If Cueto can’t make his next start, Webb’s stint in the bullpen could be cut short as he’d be the likeliest candidate to take the veteran’s place.
Before exiting after 5 2/3 innings, Cueto had outdueled Reds right-hander Tyler Mahle, who was efficient in the early innings of Wednesday’s game before the Giants offense ran up his pitch count in the fourth and fifth.
Cueto needed just 68 pitches to record 17 outs on Wednesday and had allowed only three hits before leaving the game.
Mahle was perfect through his first three innings against the
Giants as San Francisco’s hitters saw just 33 pitches the first time through the order against the Cincinnati right-hander. The lineup didn’t fare much better against Mahle in the fourth as a Mike Yastrzemski walk gave the Giants their first baserunner, but all four hitters who came to the plate saw at least six pitches as they began to grind out long at-bats.
That trend continued in the fifth as Donovan Solano led off the inning with an eight-pitch at-bat that resulted in a bloop single in front of right fielder Nick Castellanos that ended
Mahle’s no-hit bid. Two batters later, Austin Slater broke a scoreless tie with a double into the right field
gap on an 0-2 mistake that Mahle left up over the heart of the plate.
The Giants added a second
run when Slater raced home from third on an infield chopper hit by Curt Casali, but weren’t able to take advantage of a twoout single from Tommy La Stella on the fifth pitch of his at-bat. Casali attempted to score from second and was initially called safe at home, but a reply review overturned the call as the Giants catcher left his lead foot up over the plate, allowing Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson to tag him for the third out of the inning.
With a shallow popup that should have been tracked down by Reds second baseman Jonathan India, Giants center fielder Mauricio Dubón gave McGee an extra insurance run in the eighth inning as he brought home Evan Longoria.