Cueto suffers historic loss despite brilliant start
There was no even-year magic for Johnny Cueto on this night.
The San Francisco Giants right-hander took the hard-luck loss in Game 1 of the NLDS on Friday night thanks to Javier Baez's eighth-inning game-winning home run despite an excellent stat line. Cueto became the first pitcher in postseason history to strike out 10 or more batters, walk none, and allow three or fewer hits while taking the loss, according to Christopher Kamka of Comcast Sportsnet Chicago.
Cueto is only the third pitcher to record a line of three or fewer hits, 10 or more strikeouts, and no walks in MLB playoff history; the other two - Philadelphia's Cliff Lee in the 2009 NLCS, and the Padres' Sterling Hitchcock in the 1998 NLDS - both recorded wins.
Unfortunately for Cueto, his stellar outing was ruined when he left a 94-mph fastball over the heart of the plate for Baez, who laced it into the basket above Wrigley Field's iconic ivy for the lone run of the night.
"I was right under it," left fielder Angel Pagan told reporters about the fateful fly ball, suggesting he could have caught it if not for the basket. "But that basket has been there forever. What can you do?"
Despite the excruciating loss, Cueto's eight innings pitched represented the longest postseason road outing of his career. The 30-year-old has famously been rattled by loud road crowds in October, most notably in the 2013 NL wild-card game when noisy Pirates fans at PNC Park caused him to drop the baseball before he surrendered a game-changing home run; the raucous crowd at Rogers Centre also got to Cueto during last year's ALCS, when he allowed eight runs in just two innings during a historically bad start.
Cueto offered a succinct answer Friday when asked what he was trying to do in the at-bat against Baez.
Nothing," he told reporters after the loss. "He hit a home run."