De La Rosa Has Strong Showing Despite Loss To Giants
SAN FRANCISCO (The Sports Xchange) - Johnny Cueto completed the most successful first half by a San Francisco Giants pitcher in 23 years Wednesday night.
The question is: How is it playing in New York?
Cueto made a pitch to be the National League's starting pitcher in the All-Star Game, recording a career-best 10th consecutive win in complete-game fashion as the Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 5-1.
Next stop: San Diego, where Giants manager Bruce Bochy disclosed Wednesday night that NL All-Star manager Terry Collins has informed him that Cueto definitely will pitch in Tuesday's showcase.
But will Cueto start?
"It would mean a lot," Cueto said shortly after walking off the mound as the NL's first 13-game winner. "It would be the first time I've ever pitched in an All-Star Game, and I want to pitch."
All-Star Buster Posey smacked a home run, and Brandon Belt, seeking to get into the Midsummer Classic via the Final Vote, highlighted a two-run first inning with a triple, helping the Giants win for the 18th time in 28 tries in the final game of a series this season.
"(Rockies starter Jorge) De La Rosa has been tough. I figured we'd have to scratch and claw," Bochy said. "It was nice getting two runs early."
That was all enough for Cueto (13-1). He allowed just five hits, all singles, walked one and struck out eight in his NL-leading fourth complete game of the season.
"He wanted to finish it," Bochy said of the 118-pitch effort. "What a great job."
In pitching the Giants to a 16th victory in his 18 starts this season, Cueto became the first San Francisco pitcher since John Burkett in 1993 to record 13 wins before the All-Star break.
The first-year Giant allowed one run or fewer for the 10th time this season, ending a mini-slump in which he was tagged for a total of 10 runs in wins over the Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks in his previous two starts.
But is it enough when the All-Star manager has a no-hit pitcher who is the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner (Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs) and a stalwart of his own (Noah Syndergaard of the Mets) as other options?
"Certainly he made an enormous case to start that game," Bochy said. "You look at his numbers. Great first half. Obviously, we're pushing for it."
The win was the Giants' 54th of the season, the most in baseball. They are 28-15 against the NL West this year.
"He was spot-on," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said of Cueto. "He's been doing that all year."
Belt had a triple and a double for the Giants, who took a 7-6 lead in the season series against the Rockies.
The teams don't meet again until Sept. 5.
"He's trying to state his case, too," Bochy said of Belt, whose double was his NL-leading 27th, one off Jeff Kent's team record for two-base hits before the All-Star break.
The double came in the eighth inning, when the Giants tacked on a pair of runs against the Colorado bullpen.
A wild pitch by right-hander Gonzalez Germen following Belt's double allowed Grant Green to score from third base. Brandon Crawford then brought in Belt with a sacrifice fly.
The RBI was the second of the night for Crawford.
Belt and Green scored two runs apiece for the Giants.
De La Rosa (5-6) pitched seven effective innings for the Rockies, allowing three runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out five.
It was the eighth consecutive game in which De La Rosa allowed three runs or fewer.
"He looks like the 'De La' of old," Weiss said, "giving us a chance every time."
DJ LeMahieu and All-Star Carlos Gonzalez had two hits apiece for the Rockies, who completed a 1-5 trip that began with three consecutive losses to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Colorado returns home to start a four-game series against Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night.
A one-out walk to Green set up the Giants' two-run first inning.
Belt followed with a blast off the top of the padded section about eight feet up on the 20-foot wall in right-center field. He easily reached third while Green coasted home with the game's first run.
After De La Rosa struck out Posey for a second out, Crawford singled to center field to plate Belt and make it 2-0.
The Rockies got to Cueto the one and only time in the fourth after he faced the minimum nine batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays.
Singles by Charlie Blackmon and LeMahieu and a walk to Gonzalez loaded the bases with one out.
The Giants came within inches of a third double play, which would have ended the inning, but Trevor Story beat the relay throw to first base, allowing Blackmon to score and narrow the gap to 2-1.
The RBI was Story's 51st of the season, which is second to Crawford's 55 among NL shortstops.
Cueto then struck out Daniel Descalso to preserve the lead.
Posey's homer, his team-leading 11th of the season, re-established the two-run advantage at 3-1 in the sixth.
NOTES: The complete game was the 16th of Giants RHP Johnny Cueto's career. Only eight active pitchers have more. ... San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy made it official: LHP Madison Bumgarner will start Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, thus making him ineligible to pitch in Tuesday's All-Star Game. ... Giants RHP Cory Gearrin, who gave up Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado's three-run home run Tuesday, was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a strained right shoulder. RHP Albert Suarez was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to fill the roster spot. ... The Giants lost RHP Jake Smith off waivers to the San Diego Padres. Smith, who was pitching for Double-A Richmond, was designated for assignment when the Giants added INF Grant Green to the 40-man roster on June 30. ... The Rockies also lost a player Wednesday when LHP Yohan Flande declined a minor league assignment and became a free agent. Flande had appeared in 37 games (20 starts) for Colorado the past three seasons.
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