Cueto tests road reputation in Giants debut, plus lineups
Cueto tests road reputation in Giants debut, plus lineups
MILWAUKEE - Welcome to Game 2, the real Opening Day as far as I'm concerned.
All the socialites, politicians, foofs, frauds and fair-weather freeloaders who show up on Opening Day just to be seen are gone.
Fans will get to see quickly if Cueto's reputation as a bad road pitcher has any merit.
[...] his splits against the Brewers are pretty stark.
At home in Cincinnati, Cueto was 8-0 with a 2.16 ERA against the Brewers in 11 starts.
In seven starts at Miller Park as a Red, he was 1-3 with a 4.19 ERA, although he has pitched here only once since 2012, last year, and he had a good one.
[...] he has pitched well against the Brewers overall, beating them the past six times he has faced them.
The Giants will have a tough time topping their Game 1 performance, when they had 15 hits (including four homers) and 12 runs in a 12-3 victory.
The Giants did some digging and found the Giants were the third time in big-league history to hit three consecutive homers in an opener.
The other two were the 1948 Red Sox against the A's and 1987 Padres against the 1997 Padres against the Mets.
The Giants on Tuesday will run with the same lineup:
Manager Bruce Bochy said in his pregame chat with reporters he might rest some regulars, including Buster Posey, as soon as Wednesday, when the Giants play their series finale in Milwaukee ahead of Thursday’s daytime home opener.
“The plan is to keep those guys fresh and healthy all year,” Bochy said.
Bochy ordinarily might bench Brandon Belt, who has terrible numbers against Kershaw, and have Posey play first base.
[...] Posey always catches Madison Bumgarner, who pitches Saturday.
“Sure, that’s why they were taking groundballs and playing first base in the games (in spring training), so we could have coverage there,” Bochy said.
[...] Bumgarner seemed to be feeling better a day after pitching with the flu.
[...] the clubhouse as a whole seemed to be shedding the “crud.”