Just in case it needed reiterating, Johnny Cueto reminded all of 41,413 in attendance why the Giants paid him the big bucks, outshining James Shields in and throwing a complete game shutout in 1-0 victory while striking out eleven to record his 100th career win.
Cueto and James had themselves a classic pitcher's duel, going back and forth, putting up zeros on the scoreboard inning after inning. Through the first couple of frame, Shields appeared to have the better night, no-hitting the Giants through the first four frames and limiting San Francisco's opportunities to score.
While the Padres racked up more hits against Cueto than the Giants did against Shields, Cueto was able to escape some early jams with a little bit of help from the defense. In the top of the fifth with the bases loaded, Cueto got Jon Jay to ground into a Crawnik double play. His battery mate, Buster Posey, gunned down two runners, one of which came after a strikeout to induce an inning-ending double play in the top of the eighth.
Shields's only error was a costly one; in the bottom of the fifth with two outs, Shields left a fastball right down the middle that Denard Span crushed off of the bricks between the fourth and fifth archway, driving in Brandon Crawford and giving the Giants the only run they'd need for the night.
Once the Giants established a lead, Cueto never looked back. Going at his quick pace and mixing up his deliveries, the Dominican kept San Diego batters guessing all night. There was an aura that once San Francisco got that one run, it would be all Cueto needed to lock in a victory and Cueto did just that.
Cueto's 100th career win came on the heels of Santiago Casilla's 100th career save yesterday.
The Giants continue to pick up momentum following a shaky two-week stretch, having now won four of their last five.
Tomorrow, the Giants look to sweep the Padres as Jeff Samardzija faces off against Andrew Cashner. In four starts, Cashner is 1-1 with a 4.29 ERA.
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