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SCOTTSDALE — On Sunday, Madison Bumgarner hit a no-doubt home run that landed well beyond the left field wall at Scottsdale Stadium.
On Monday, Yonder Alonso hit two for the Cleveland Indians.
His home runs, both hit off Johnny Cueto, played a major factor in the San Francisco Giants’ 5-4 loss to the Indians. In the end, it was an RBI single from Tyler Naquin that gave the Indians just enough offense to edge out the Giants, outdoing Jarrett Parker’s seventh-inning home run, his third of the spring.
Cueto was tested early after Francisco Lindor hit a soft single into center field and reached second on an error from Brandon Belt, who was unable to come up with a pickoff throw. Two batters later, Jose Ramirez coaxed a walk and scored on a three-run homer from Yonder Alonso that gave the Indians an early 3-0 lead.
Four innings later, the Giants had tied the Indians and Alonso stepped back into the box against Cueto. Alonso smacked his second home run of the game in the top of the fifth, giving the Indians a 4-3 lead. To many, it appeared as if the ball was foul, but to the umpires it was fair and they called it as such.
“I don’t know,” Cueto said when asked if he thought it was fair or foul. “I think it was foul.”
That home run brought Cueto’s third start of the spring to an end after 4.1 innings; in which he allowed seven hits, four runs, and two walks while striking out four. Cueto is expected to have one more start before the regular season.
“I’ll do my final touchups and continue working on whatever I need to work,” Cueto said. “But once the season starts I’ll be ready.”
After going down in order in the first inning, Posey started the second with single and as moved over a base thanks to a groundout from Pablo Sandoval. Then, Brandon Crawford singled, which allowed Posey to get to third, and Steven Duggar put the Giants on the board with single into right field.
Duggar gets #SFGiants on the board with a single into RF. pic.twitter.com/NPveii3tf4
— Keaton A. Moore (@KeatonAMoore) March 19, 2018
Crawford sprinted to third on Duggar’s single and was able to score on a sacrifice fly from Gregor Blanco, making the score 3-2.
Thanks to a stellar running-play by Duggar, Cueto put up a scoreless inning in the third that set the stage for the Giants to tie the Indians in the bottom of the inning. Brandon Belt beat the shift by singling over second baseman Erik Gonzalez’s head into right field and after Posey’s second single of the game, Sandoval doubled on a pop up that landed in shallow left field between three Indian players.
Tony Watson relieved Cueto in the fifth and ran into trouble after giving up back-to-back singles. Although he escaped the inning with a double play, Watson gave up a single in the sixth to Gonzalez, who eventually scored off an RBI single from Naquin after Hunter Strickland came into the game.
Game notes:
Tyler Beede, Derek Law, and Austin Slater were among the 15 players the Giants cut prior to the game. Although Williamson, Chase d’Arnaud, and Orlando Calixte were all listed on the report, each made short appearances against the Indians.
Mark Melancon pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. He’s now pitched three innings this spring, where he’s given up one run on one hit and zero walks.
Keaton Moore is a KNBR.com contributor, follow Keaton on Twitter at @KeatonAMoore
