Giving right-hander Johnny Cueto any kind of lead makes it difficult to scratch out a victory. Giving him four runs over the first four innings at AT&T Park in San Francisco makes it darn-near impossible. Cueto scattered six hits over seven innings on Friday night to help lead the Giants to an 8-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
Tyler Anderson surrendered four runs over four innings pitched for Colorado, including a pair of home runs, to take his second loss of the season. Chris Marrero hit his first career home run, a two-run shot on a belt-high changeup in the second inning. Brandon Crawford took the first pitch he saw from Anderson deep in the fourth inning for his second of the year. The Giants tacked on another four runs in the game, two against Carlos Estevez and two against Jake McGee, all in the seventh inning.
Cueto was in cruise control early, allowing two hits but facing only 13 batters in the first four innings. Colorado cut the deficit to two runs in the fifth, but that was all the offense they would muster. Derek Law and Cory Gearrin each retired three batters in order in the eighth and ninth innings. DJ LeMahieu was the only Rockie with multiple hits. The victory was Cueto’s seventh in nine starts against the Rockies.
Postgame, Rockies manager Bud Black spoke on the two balk calls against Anderson (a team record) and Cueto’s performance.
“He made pitches all night,” Black said about Cueto. “He kept us off balance with his mix of, you know, fastball and secondaries and the deception in his delivery, so, you know he’s become one of the better pitchers in the National League for a lot of reasons.”
The Rockies and Giants continue their four-game series on Saturday when teams across Major League Baseball will celebrate Jackie Robinson Day. Tyler Chatwood (0-2, 6.35) is scheduled to start opposite Matt Moore (1-1, 2.70). First pitch is set for 2:05 p.m. MDT.