Cueto, Grandal remain cool, then Dodgers finish Giants
SAN FRANCISCO — Eventually, Johnny Cueto and Yasmani Grandal spoke civilly and worked out their differences as grown men: They each apologized before tension escalated.
Cueto thought Grandal was stealing signs at second base from San Francisco catcher Buster Posey after a first-inning double. Grandal figured Cueto was throwing at his head in the third out of frustration and retaliation.
Grandal said "it caught me by surprise" and insists that wasn't the case at all in the Dodgers' 6-1 victory behind Clayton Kershaw on Wednesday, but rather just him trying to get ready to move "because I'm slow."
"We talked about it, we apologized to each other, so we're on good terms now I guess," Grandal said. "Let's not make it a bigger deal than it really is."
The benches cleared briefly after the top of the third when Cueto and Grandal exchanged words. It happened just after Cueto's high, inside pitch flew wildly past Posey, allowing another Dodgers run home for a 3-0 lead.
Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said Cueto apparently also thought Corey Seager was relaying signs in the third with Grandal batting again, just before the wild pitch.
Grandal said there's no way he knew what was coming on his two-run double in the first and lone hit, even though he hit a low 0-2 cut fastball well below his knees.
"Whether we were or we weren't, obviously he was displeased by it and let us know," Roberts said without acknowledging whether his team was in fact stealing signs. "It's a part of the game, it's part of baseball."
Cueto and Grandal made their apologies when Cueto came to bat in the bottom of the third and Grandal was behind the plate.
"He said, 'Sorry for the misunderstanding. Let's just move on,'" Cueto said. "I'm not going to use that as an excuse but they were relaying signs."
Kershaw took a share of the major league lead with his seventh win and earned career victory No. 20 against the rival Giants. Kershaw (72) struck out five in seven shutout innings and retired his first 10 batters before Justin Ruggiano's fourth-inning single. The left-hander moved into a tie for most wins with Houston's Dallas Keuchel.
Yasiel Puig singled in a pair of runs in the sixth as the Dodgers jumped on Cueto (4-3), who lost for the first time at home this season.
Kershaw allowed three hits and didn't walk a batter for the fourth time in 2017 as the Dodgers snapped their threegame skid and ended the Giants' season-best five-game winning streak.
Kershaw's 20th victory against the Giants came in his 39th outing and 38th start of the rivalry. He is 12-4 with a 1.29 ERA at AT&T Park. He has allowed one or fewer walks in all but one of his starts.
Eduardo Nunez hit his first home run of the season in the ninth against former Giants reliever Sergio Romo before he finished the 2-hour, 37-minute game.
Cueto, who beat Kershaw and the Dodgers on May 1, allowed more than three earned runs for the first time in five starts and just the third in nine outings. The right-hander lost for only the sixth time in 25 starts against the NL West since joining the Giants before the 2016 season and just the first time in six starts at AT&T Park since a defeat against the Diamondbacks here last Aug. 30.
Giants rookie Christian Arroyo started at shortstop, his third infield spot in as many days after playing third on Monday and second Tuesday night.
Diamondbacks 5, Mets 4, 11 innings
PHOENIX — Chris Herrmann homered off Rafael Montero leading off the 11th inning, giving the Arizona Diamondbacks a victory and sending the New York Mets to their season-high seventh straight loss.
Montero (0-3) relieved to start the 11th, and Herrmann worked the count full, fouled off a pitch and connected on a belt-high fastball for his first gameending home run in the major leagues.
New York went 0-6 in Milwaukee and Arizona, the Mets' longest winless trip since 1999, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. At 1623, New York dropped seven games under .500 for the first time September 2014.
Tom Wilhelmsen (1-1) walked Matt Reynolds and Lucas Duda with two outs in the 11th before throwing a called third strike past Jose Reyes.
Making his second start since a three-day suspension for failing to show up for a game, Matt Harvey allowed three runs, six hits and four walks in 5 1/3 innings, leaving with a 4-3 lead.
Jake Lamb's two-run homer in the third was the 11th home run in eight starts this season off Harvey, whose fastball reached 98 mph. After giving up an RBI double to Paul Goldschmidt, Harvey struck out the Arizona slugger twice.
Mets starters have gone 17 consecutive games without getting an out in the seventh inning, tying the club high set in 2002.
Michael Conforto and Juan Lagares homered for the Mets, who led 4-3 before Yasmany Tomas's RBI double in the seventh off Robert Gsellman, whose turn is being skipped in the rotation because of an off day.
Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin allowed four runs and nine hits in six innings.
Pirates 6, Nationals 1
PITTSBURGH — Gerrit Cole shut down the best offense in the majors, holding the Washington Nationals to three hits in seven innings to win for the first time in a month as the Pittsburgh Pirates eased to a victory.
Cole (2-4) struck out three, walked two and received an overdue dose of support when Josh Bell smacked a three-run home run in the sixth off Jacob Turner (2-2). Andrew McCutchen went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and also stole two bases for Pittsburgh.
Turner cruised through the first five innings in his second start of the year, but ran into trouble in the sixth. A walk and a hit batter brought up Bell, who sent a pitch into the right field stands.
Brian Goodwin had an RBI double for the Nationals. Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman, who began the day with the top two batting averages in the majors, combined to go 0 for 8.
Save for a bumpy opening day in Boston, Cole has dominated. He came in with a 2.08 ERA in his last six starts, but had just one win to show for it thanks to an offense that averages just 2.5 runs when he's on the mound.