Cueto's sterling season continues with yet another gem

CLEVELAND -- It’s the ninth inning at Progressive Field Saturday night, and actually getting pretty close to Sunday morning after a 2-hour, 55-minute rain delay.

The White Sox are holding a 2-0 lead on Cleveland behind Johnny Cueto’s continued mound mastery, but he’s at 100 pitches. So, what’s the plan for the right-hander and manager Tony La Russa?

Send him back to the field, of course, to finish what he started.

“Yes, I felt good,” Cueto said of his complete game quest, through interpreter Billy Russo. “And I told him that I was feeling good and I was ready to throw in the ninth.”

“You ask him how he feels, and he’s honest. Don’t have much left and you get him,” La Russa said. “But he came in after the seventh and said ‘I’m good.’ Now that we’ve been together, we trust him. Came in after the eighth, he had a good inning, leadoff guy got on and he said he was good. So give him a chance.”

That chance moved Cueto within one out of a complete game, before Liam Hendriks struck out Oscar Gonzalez for his 19th straight save to preserve the White Sox 2-0 victory. Cueto (6-5) allowed a one-out single to Josh Naylor, but La Russa let him face Andrés Giménez, who he had handled well all night. Gonzalez really was the only one to square up Cueto on this evening, leading to Hendriks’ 28th save.

“He looked the same at the end as he did in the beginning,” La Russa said. “Anybody else but Gonzalez, he would probably still be in, gotten the third out. Liam’s happy, share the wealth.”

“Even when he missed, it was either for a purpose or it was just off or down and in,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said of Cueto. “You don't want to be impressed during a game because you want to find a way to beat him, but that was a very impressive performance."

Grabbing a victory in the second of this three-game set moved the White Sox (62-59) back to within 2 1/2 games of the first-place Guardians in the American League Central. They also moved 1 1/2 behind the second-place Twins, who lost in extra innings to the Rangers.

But in the process, the White Sox might have lost their starting catcher.

Yasmani Grandal singled off Cleveland starter Shane Bieber (8-7) to open the seventh and moved to second on a wild pitch. Elvis Andrus followed with a single just beyond the diving attempt of shortstop Amed Rosario, and third-base coach Joe McEwing sent Grandal home.

Center fielder Myles Straw made a strong throw to Luke Maile, who put the tag on Grandal as he tried to avoid the Cleveland catcher. But in the process, Grandal hurt his left knee and was on the ground clutching the area in pain almost immediately after the tag. The veteran was helped off the field, without putting any pressure on his left leg, and it was announced he exited with left knee discomfort and was being further evaluated.

So, where does this leave the White Sox catching situation? Seby Zavala, who replaced Grandal, is the only other backstop on the team’s 40-man roster, which is already at its limit. He takes over the starting role in the interim while Grandal’s knee is further evaluated, while Carlos Pérez was on his way from Triple-A Charlotte to join the team.

This duo will be counted on for a playoff push, but they will have the benefit of handling a veteran stalwart such as Cueto, who leads all Major League pitchers with 30 2/3 innings thrown in August. He joined New York’s Jameson Taillon as the only AL pitchers to work eight-plus innings in consecutive appearances this year, and became the first White Sox hurler since Mark Buehrle to throw 10 straight quality starts in a season.

During this high-quality stretch, dating back to June 28, Cueto has gone 5-1 with a 2.18 ERA.

“He's a great arm, been a great arm for a long time, so it was fun out there,” Bieber said. “Obviously, it sucks to come out on the losing end, but on to the next one."

“Really, it’s worth paying just to watch him,” La Russa said. “He’s an artist.”

“Like I said before, I’m not focusing on trying to strike out anybody,” Cueto said. “Just try to get quick contact, quick outs. I just want for them to put the ball in play.”