Cueto gets Game 1 start in NLDS vs. Cubs
The San Francisco Giants will give the ball to Johnny Cueto in Game 1 of their National League Division Series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Friday.
The rest of the Giants' rotation has not been announced.
Cueto gets the nod after an impressive first season with the Giants, in which he posted a 2.79 ERA and 198 strikeouts while leading the National League with five complete games. He also had success against the Cubs this year, throwing seven innings of one-run baseball in his lone outing against them, which coincidentally also took place at Wrigley Field; he owns a career 3.07 ERA in 15 starts at the 102-year-old stadium.
Although he's had successful starts in the playoffs, Cueto has had some notable October meltdowns on the road. During the 2013 NL wild-card game, Cueto, then with the Cincinnati Reds, was rattled by the loud Pittsburgh Pirates crowd and dropped the baseball before allowing a game-changing grand slam. In last year's ALCS while pitching for the Kansas City Royals, the notoriously hostile crowd in Toronto seemed to unnerve him, as he unraveled and allowed eight runs over two innings.
Cueto will be opposed on the mound in Game 1 by Cubs left-hander Jon Lester.