ARLINGTON, TX – One of the things that he’s been able to do since joining the White Sox early in the season is give the team a chance to win games while making sure he stays in them for a while.
Johnny Cueto did that during a long effort on Thursday night in their series opener against the Rangers at Globe Life Field. He pitched all eight innings and kept the White Sox within striking distance through the contest.
But the offense couldn’t find enough momentum to back it up, and in the end, Cueto and the team took a loss to begin their eight-game road trip.
Texas beat the White Sox 3-2 on Thursday evening as a run in the second and two runs in the seventh inning were enough to send the starter to his fifth loss of the season. Cueto saved the bullpen for one night for Tony LaRussa as he got through the full game on 106 pitches, and while he scattered 11 hits, he didn’t walk a batter and had four strikeouts.
Thursday’s game marks the fourth time in the last five contests that Cueto has pitched at least seven innings in a start. He’s made it through at least six innings in his last seven outings and has only failed to do so twice all season long.
Unfortunately for him, the White Sox offense had a quiet night as they had just five hits and a pair of runs while leaving nine runners on base. Luis Robert had a great effort on a dash to the plate in the third on a grounder hit by Andrew Vaughn, reaching his hand over catcher Jonah Heim to get a run.
Yoan Moncada tripled home another in the eighth to get the White Sox closer, but they couldn’t get anything after that as Cueto was saddled with the hard-luck loss.