Clutch
After letting the first batter he faced reach on a single, he calmly induced a 4-6-3 double play ball, then dispatched Jose Ramierez with a nasty cutter to end the inning. From there, it was all Cueto all the time. He baffled the Guardians with his unusual assortment of deliveries. He worked around a two-out walk in the second inning, then proceeded to face the minimum in the third and fourth inning. Cueto ran into some trouble in the fifth inning. He struck out Andres Gimenez on a high fastball to kick off the frame, but with two outs, he had runners on first and second after a hit and an error. The two-time All-Star wiggled out of it by getting Myles Straw to ground out. After retiring the next three batters in order, the Guardians threatened again in the seventh inning. Oscar Gonzalez doubled with two outs, which brought the tying run to the plate. Once again, the 36-year-old escaped by getting Will Benson to pop out to Josh Harrison. Cueto quick-pitched, hesitated, and spun his way through eight scoreless innings in a display that even impressed Guardians manager Terry Francona. "Even when he missed, it was either for a purpose, or it was just off or down and in," Francona said. "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."Artist On The Mound
The only thing standing between Cueto and his first complete game since 2016 was the heart of the Guardians lineup. Tony La Russa decided to let him go back out in the ninth inning to finish what he started. It was his game to lose. "I told him I was feeling good, and I was ready to throw the ninth," Cueto said through interpreter Billy Russo. He got Jose Ramirez to fly out to start the inning but then allowed Josh Naylor to reach on a single. After uncorking his 113th pitch of the night, he got Andres Gimenez to pop out softly to Yoan Moncada. Gimenez would be Cueto's 32nd and final batter of the night. With Gonzalez coming to bat, La Russa turned to Liam Hendriks to get the final out. Hendriks converted the save with a strikeout, and Cueto got his sixth victory. Cueto is an artist, and he was clutch for us," manager Tony La Russa told reporters. "He looked the same at the end as he did at the beginning, but the only guy he wasn't going to face was Gonzalez. Liam is happy that we shared the wealth."Workhorse
His near-complete game effort is another example of him bailing out the White Sox. The offense was stagnant, and the margin for error was slim, yet Cueto overcame it. It marked his 10th consecutive quality start and 15th of the season. Cueto has been the definition of a workhorse for the White Sox this season.In 17 starts, he has gone six-plus innings in 16 of them, which leads the White Sox. The White Sox have only four starts of eight-plus innings this season, and they all have come from Johnny Cueto. Where would the White Sox be without Johnny Cueto this season? Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn have struggled this season. Dallas Keuchel was so bad early in the year he was jettisoned from the roster. The bullpen has endured its fair share of trials and tribulations, from injuries to being overworked. There has been a long list of great Cueto moments this season. His White sox debut was six scoreless innings against the Royals. On June 12th, he volunteered to enter the game as a reliever after Michael Kopech left the game with an injury in the first inning. With the bullpen running on fumes, Cueto gave the White Sox five innings and a chance to win the game. On June 18th, he outdueled Justin Verlander in Houston. Cueto dazzled through seven scoreless innings, striking out five batterers while allowing only two hits and two walks. He beat the Astros again on August 15th, throwing eight innings and only allowing one earned run. After striking out Kyle Tucker to end the eighth inning, he turned towards center field and unleashed a couple of fist pumps to try and energize the team. It seemed to work. In the bottom half of the frame, the offense erupted for four runs.
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