The 2017 season hasn’t been easy for Johnny Cueto and Madison Bumgarner when they’ve been pitching for the San Francisco Giants.
It’s been particularly difficult for Cueto and Bumgarner when they’ve pitched for the San Jose Giants.
On Sunday afternoon, Cueto traveled to San Jose to pitch in what is expected to be his final rehab start before returning to the Giants’ rotation later this week, and he promptly allowed nine hits and eight runs over four innings of work.
After throwing three scoreless innings for the AAA Sacramento River Cats in an August 22 rehab outing, Cueto pitched on behalf of the A-San Jose Giants on Sunday with the goal of throwing around 60-to-70 pitches.
Cueto achieved that goal –he threw 72 pitches– but the rest of his outing didn’t go as planned.
In the top of the third inning, Cueto allowed a two-out grand slam to Stockton Ports first baseman Seth Brown, who also recorded another hit off of Cueto on Sunday. That home run capped off a five-run frame, and in the fourth inning, Cueto allowed three more runs as his afternoon came to a close.
The Giants have been without Cueto since July 15, when he was placed on the disabled list with blister issues. After attempting to make a comeback to the Giants’ rotation at the beginning of August, Cueto suffered a setback and experienced forearm tightness during a July 31 outing with San Jose.
Cueto and Bumgarner have both experienced dreadful outings in San Jose this season, as Bumgarner surrendered eight runs in an inning back on July 5 during a rehab start while recovering from a shoulder strain. Since his return to the Giants, though, Bumgarner has largely returned to form.