Cueto dazzles in front of 'energizing' fans

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Bay Bridge Series opener on Friday night proved far more ceremonious than your typical regular-season game in June.

The first meeting of the year between the Giants and the A’s marked the return to full capacity at Oracle Park, imbuing the ballpark with a festive mood and raucous energy. The good vibes seemed to fuel an animated Johnny Cueto, who fired seven shutout innings to carry the Giants to a 2-0 win in their first game in front of a packed house since Sept. 29, 2019.

Cueto delivered a vintage performance before an announced crowd of 36,928, striking out six and allowing only five hits and one walk to outduel Oakland left-hander Sean Manaea, who entered Friday with a 1.04 ERA over his previous four starts in June.

“As expected, I think Johnny drew on the energy of the fans in the ballpark,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “Particularly as the game matured, it seemed like the fans were more and more influential and energizing.”

Cueto and Manaea matched each other with three scoreless innings to start the night before the Giants broke through in the fourth, when Wilmer Flores doubled and scored on a base hit by Brandon Crawford. Curt Casali, who started behind the plate after Buster Posey was scratched with back tightness, later added a key insurance run by hammering a towering leadoff home run off A’s reliever Cam Bedrosian in the seventh.

The Giants have now won nine of their last 10 games to move to a season-high 23 games over .500 at 49-26, the best record in the Majors. San Francisco also leads the big leagues with 11 shutouts, six of which have been caught by Casali.

“I think his efforts behind the plate sort of speak for themselves,” Kapler said. “The way he guided Johnny through that outing. I thought he was excellent with [Tyler Rogers] in particular. He was pressing all the right buttons. I think sometimes we tend to give pitchers all the credit, and for good reason. They’re the ones standing on the mound. But I do think Casali was instrumental in the success of our pitchers, and that home run was huge. It was a big separator for us.”

As part of their Welcome Home weekend, the Giants held a special pregame ceremony that evoked the pomp and circumstance of Opening Day, with both teams lining up on the field for introductions prior to first pitch. San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf were also on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitches to Kapler and A’s reliever Sergio Romo, respectively.

It set the stage for a crowd-pleasing matchup between Manaea and Cueto, who thrived while working in front of his biggest audience of the year. Manaea doubled to spark a two-out rally for the A’s in the third, but Cueto induced a flyout from Matt Olson to emerge from the bases-loaded jam unscathed. Manaea’s second hit of the night -- an infield single -- also helped put a pair of men aboard with one out for Oakland in the fifth, but Cueto again avoided damage by striking out Matt Chapman and Olson on fastballs to end the inning.

“I thought it was the best fastball he’s had this season,” Casali said. “Mixing the four-seam in with the two-seam, it had some serious bite to it. It just felt like the A’s were kind of waiting for changeups and slow stuff the entire day, and I get why, but they weren’t really putting too many good swings on the heater, so we kept throwing it and getting easy outs.”

Cueto, 35, logged a 5.29 ERA over his first seven starts after returning from the injured list on May 9, but he’s now delivered quality starts in each of his last two outings, flashing the effectiveness he showed before his promising start was derailed by a lat strain in April.

“I feel great,” Cueto said in Spanish. “With each outing I’ve had, I’ve felt better. This is the best start I’ve had so far, so hopefully I’ll be able to keep this up and keep giving my best to help the team win.”

Casali also appears to be rounding into form now that his surgically repaired left wrist is a bit healthier following his own stint on the IL earlier this month. The 32-year-old veteran has gone 8-for-19 (.421) with two home runs and six RBIs over seven games since returning from the IL, boosting his batting average from .104 to .174 on the season.

“I feel like I’ve got some bat speed,” Casali said. “I feel like I want to swing the bat and swing it hard and try and drive the ball. My practices are more fun, my batting practice is more fun. I can actually do what I normally can do. It’s a shame that it took me so long to figure it out, but as they say, better late than never.”

After walloping a 2-1 fastball from Bedrosian out to left field for his second homer of the year in the seventh, Casali pointed to his wife, Rene, in the stands to express his gratitude for her support through this trying season.

“She’s been an amazing supporter of me, and I felt like that moment, I was jacked up and wanted to give her a little bit of love and kind of thank her for everything she does,” Casali said.

The Giants continued to feel the love throughout the night, especially after Jake McGee struck out pinch-hitter Chad Pinder to end the game in the top of the ninth.

“I did take pause and look around there at the very end,” Kapler said. “I saw all the fans on their feet and saw most every seat filled, if not all of them at the end there. I think it was special for the players in the dugout, and all of us as staff as well.”