Giants will lean on 'pen with 2 starters out

SAN FRANCISCO -- Heading into the final month of the season without two starting pitchers, Giants manager Gabe Kapler will turn to his bullpen to fill the void until Johnny Cueto and Alex Wood return.

Cueto’s troublesome strained right elbow landed him on the 10-day injured list for the third time this season Wednesday. Wood has been on the COVID-19 IL since Monday.

The decision to place Cueto on the IL comes one day after the 35-year-old was tagged for six runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings in one of his worst starts of the season.

“Over the course of the last week, 10 days, maybe a little bit more, [Cueto] has been feeling some soreness in his elbow,” Kapler said. “He’s still sore and didn’t wake up feeling great. We felt like at this point we just need to protect Johnny and get him healthy and 100 percent. Next time he steps onto the mound for us we want him to be at his best.”

Cueto has not yet undergone any X-rays or scans but Kapler said the situation is similar to Cueto’s previous stint on the IL when he missed 13 games in August with a right flexor strain. He also sat out 21 games in April because of a Grade 1 Lat strain.

Cueto pitched against the Brewers a day after being scratched from his scheduled start because he was suffering from flu-like symptoms.

That capped a rough past month for Cueto. He was winless in four August starts while compiling a 5.78 ERA (12 runs in 18 2/3 innings).

With Cueto and Wood out for the time being, Kapler said he would fill their spots in the rotation with his bullpen, though he declined to call it an opener.

“It’s something that we’ve seen good teams do,” Kapler said. “I feel like we have enough volume and enough talent in our bullpen to manage these kinds of games. Does every team wish they had five healthy strong starters all the time? Absolutely, and we’re no different. Under the circumstances, we have one starting pitcher who’s on the COVID IL and we have another that is now on the IL with a sore elbow. It’s a necessity play and it’s one that we feel confident we can navigate as a group.

“We’ve got enough relievers who can get us seven or eight outs and we’ll be able to work through this as a team, a team of pitchers rather than one or two.”

MLB spotlights childhood cancer

The Giants and Brewers wore gold ribbons on their jerseys Wednesday as part of Childhood Cancer Awareness Night. Prior to the game San Francisco catcher Buster Posey and his wife Kristen, who have raised funds for research through their BP28 foundation, held a virtual meet-and-greet with children from local hospitals who are battling cancer.

Giants All-Star shortstop Brandon Crawford and his wife Jalynne also provided T-shirts to guests of Childhood Cancer Awareness Night. Several oncology doctors and nurses plus families with children living with cancer were guests of the Giants and watched the game from a suite.