The overwhelming thought from the Giants is that Cueto will opt in for the final four years of the six-year, $130 million contract he signed prior to the 2015 season, but if Cueto does decide to opt out, Tuesday might be the last time he pitches at AT&T Park in a Giants’ uniform.
On Friday evening, though, Giants’ right-hander Jeff Samardzija and Diamondbacks’ southpaw Robbie Ray treated fans to a baseball game in September, as both pitchers handled their opposing lineup with efficiency in Arizona’s 3-2 win over San Francisco.
For a period of time, Chicago White Sox starter James Shields went by the nickname, “Big Game James.” That era has clearly passed Shields by, but the 35-year-old right-hander is still toiling in the White Sox rotation, attempting to reinvent himself on the smallest possible stage.
The San Francisco Giants have won just two games in the last 12 days. And if Jeff Samardzija didn’t pitch in those two games, it’s possible they wouldn’t have won any.
After winning 10 games in the first 18 days of August, San Francisco reached the 50-win plateau, and appeared to be in the clear. Only one Giants’ team in franchise history has lost 100 games –the 1985 team that finished exactly 62-100– and in the middle of August, a 2017 club that has been nothing short of awful looked like it would avoid that fate.
On Monday night, the Giants’ offense wasn’t much better than it was in Phoenix. The difference? Samardzija rose above his peers. Over nine innings, Samardzija surrendered just three hits.
It’s been 74 years since the Giants have fallen 40 games back of a first-place team in the standings. And after the Los Angeles Dodgers claimed their 89th win of the season on Tuesday evening, a loss for San Francisco rewrote the history books.