‘He’s an artist’: Johnny Cueto almost goes the space within the Chicago White Sox’s 2-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians

Johnny Cueto was bored as he waited out an almost three-hour rain delay.

“Trying to stay warm but tried to keep active,” the Chicago White Sox starter mentioned via an interpreter. “I was very bored.”

Once the Sox and Cleveland Guardians received the OK to play, Cueto was on his sport.

The right-hander continued his outstanding season, permitting 5 hits in 8⅔ innings to pitch the Sox to a 2-0 victory in entrance of 26,179 on Saturday at Progressive Field, pulling the Sox inside 2½ video games of the first-place Guardians within the American League Central.

“My key was trying to be aggressive in the zone,” Cueto mentioned. “First-pitch strike. And that’s how I attacked them.”

The Sox wanted a big-time efficiency as they chase the Guardians within the division. And Cueto got here via with an impressive 113-pitch outing.

“He does it every start, doesn’t he?” Sox supervisor Tony La Russa mentioned. “He’s an artist. Really. It’s price paying simply to observe him. The manner he maneuvers the ball, what he exhibits. Same hitter, various things. Different counts.

“Part of it is the stuff he has, but he’s so damn smart. He remembers. It was clutch for us.”

But the Sox misplaced catcher Yasmani Grandal, who exited within the seventh with left knee discomfort. He’s being evaluated, the Sox mentioned. Grandal suffered the damage attempting to attain from second base.

“The way (head trainer) James (Kruk) described it, to be determined,” La Russa mentioned when requested of the severity. “Just wait and see.”

La Russa mentioned the staff plans so as to add catcher Carlos Pérez from Triple-A Charlotte on Sunday.

Saturday’s sport began after a 2-hour, 55-minute delay.

Cueto, who struck out two and walked one, was sharp from the outset.

He allowed a single to leadoff batter Steven Kwan and didn’t hand over one other hit till the fifth, when Oscar Gonzalez singled with one out.

Luke Maile reached with two outs on a fielding error by second baseman Josh Harrison, giving the Guardians runners on first and second. Cueto received Myles Straw to floor out to shortstop Elvis Andrus to finish the menace.

The Sox broke via within the sixth towards Guardians starter Shane Bieber. Luis Robert, making his first begin since leaving an Aug. 12 sport with a sprained left wrist, led off with a single. With one out, José Abreu doubled to middle, scoring Robert from first.

Abreu made it to 3rd on a wild pitch, however Bieber struck out Yoán Moncada and received Gavin Sheets to floor out to second.

AJ Pollock made an amazing working catch for the ultimate out of the sixth, and Cueto greeted him close to the dugout to indicate appreciation.

Grandal started the seventh with a single and superior to second on a wild pitch. Andrus singled to middle and Grandal was thrown out on the plate. He tried to maneuver to keep away from the tag and grabbed his left knee after falling to the bottom. He needed to be helped off the sector.

Andrus superior to second on the throw and stole third. Harrison flied to shallow proper. Andrus initially held at third however headed residence and scored when the throw to the plate skipped away from the catcher Maile.

“Played against him a lot over the years, and he’s really a complete player,” La Russa mentioned of Andrus, who signed with the Sox on Friday. “He takes pride in his baserunning. He steals bases. He runs the bases well. Takes good at-bats. He’s had a hell of a career. Lucky to get him. Nice going, front office.”

Cueto made the lead stand.

La Russa mentioned “communicating and being honest” had been among the many keys when deciding to ship Cueto again out for the ninth inning.

“I felt good,” Cueto mentioned. “And I told him that I was feeling good and I was ready to throw in the ninth.”

Noted La Russa: “The only guy he wasn’t going to face was Gonzalez because, walk and two line drives, you can tell he was seeing him well. Just trust him. He looked the same at the end as he did in the beginning.”

Cueto allowed a one-out single within the ninth to Josh Naylor. He exited after getting Andrés Giménez to come out to Moncada for the second out. Liam Hendriks struck out Gonzalez for his twenty eighth save because the Sox evened the vital three-game collection.

“I know that every time that I pitch now it’s kind of a playoff game,” Cueto mentioned. “We are in the race, and I know I have to do my best to help the team. It’s that mentality that I have.”

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