SAN FRANCISCO — Johnny Cueto likes to entertain, whether he’s on the mound or on the basepaths. On Friday night, he did both.
The 35-year-old right-hander worked a quality start and scored the go-ahead run to lead the Giants to a 5-3 series-opening win over the Phillies at Oracle Park.
Cueto allowed three runs on six hits over six innings to earn his first win since May 31, but he also broke a 3-3 tie in the fourth when he drew a walk off Phillies right-hander Vince Velasquez and raced home from first on LaMonte Wade Jr.’s triple.
“He was definitely moving,” Wade said. “I’m grateful for him to get around the bases to score on that. It’s a tough play, but he was definitely flying.”
Cueto initially called for a jacket after reaching base, but he ended up handing it off to first-base coach Antoan Richardson and then shed another piece of his uniform after Wade smashed a fastball from Velasquez into the gap in right-center field. After taking three steps toward second, Cueto tossed his helmet to properly show off his wheels, zipping around the bases to put the Giants in front, 4-3.
“He can run,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “He can scoot a little bit. Just from a sprint speed perspective, we’ve seen him somewhere in the middle of the pack with our position players at times. We all know he runs well.”
Brandon Belt added an insurance run with his 10th home run of the season in the fifth, and Wade went 2-for-4 with two RBIs to help the Giants win their fifth in a row and improve to 45-25, the best record in the Majors. They’re now a season-high 20 games over .500 for the first time since July 19, 2016, and off to their best start since 1993, when they went 47-23 through their first 70 games.
“I think we’re united, we’re happy and we’re having fun,” Cueto said in Spanish. “I know it’s a long season, but hopefully we’ll keep this up and have more happy days ahead.”
Cueto looked like his vintage self after logging a 1.80 ERA over his first three starts of the season, but he missed nearly a month with a right lat strain and didn’t look the same after returning in early May. He entered Friday with a 5.29 ERA in seven starts since coming off the injured list, including a rough outing at Nationals Park on Sunday, when he tied a season high by allowing five runs (four earned) on nine hits and three walks over 5 1/3 innings.
Looking to change things up, Cueto decided to switch his warmup music from Nicky Jam’s “El Amante” to El Alfa’s “Suave” on Friday.
“I texted [Spanish language radio broadcaster] Erwin [Higueros] and I asked him to change it,” Cueto said. “I had that song for about six years and it wasn’t bringing me any good luck, so I told Erwin to pick a different song.”
The new tune initially didn’t seem to help Cueto find his rhythm on the mound, as he surrendered a leadoff home run to Odúbel Herrera on his fourth pitch of the game. It wasn’t Cueto’s only slip up. When he faced Herrera again in the top of the third, Cueto lost his balance after releasing a 93 mph fastball and tumbled to the ground. Head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner came out to check on Cueto, who ultimately stayed in the game after delivering a few practice pitches without issue.
Like Cueto, the Giants recovered from the early stumble, erasing the one-run deficit with a three-run second that was aided by sloppy defensive play by the Phillies.
Former Giant Andrew McCutchen briefly tied the game, 3-3, after hammering a misplaced sinker out to center field for a two-run shot in the top of the fourth, but Cueto restored the Giants’ lead with his speedy baserunning in the bottom half of the inning.
“When I saw the ball come off the bat, I told myself, ‘I have to score,’” Cueto said. “I felt stronger after running the bases.”
Cueto returned to the mound and fired two scoreless innings to cap his 94-pitch outing, though he benefited from a few outstanding plays from his defense. Wade delivered the defensive highlight of the night in the sixth, when he fielded Bryce Harper’s drive off the left-field wall and fired a perfect one-hop throw to Wilmer Flores to nab the Phillies’ star outfielder at second base.
“Since he hit it so hard, I knew it was going to come off the wall pretty good, so I tried to put myself in a good position to make a good throw through [Brandon Crawford],” Wade said. “Luckily, I was able to get him out and help out on defense.”
