Smells of champagne and beer still filled the air of the visiting Citi Field clubhouse when talk among the veteran Giants turned from a 3-0 win over the Mets in the NL Wild Card, to Cueto vs. Lester.
The Cubs-Giants NLDS series opens Friday at Wrigley field and will feature Johnny Cueto (18-5) against Cubs’ lefty Jon Lester (19-5), two pitchers who combined for 395 strikeouts in 2016 and both of whom had a sub-three E.R.A. It’s been said that pitching is all about messing up a hitter’s timing; there aren’t too many pitchers in MLB better at that cat-and-mouse game than Cueto and Lester.
Lester was a stellar postseason pitcher with the Boston Red Sox from 2006-13, giving up a mere 13 runs in 76.2 innings. Since 2014, however, he’s surrendered 13 runs in 21 innings for the Red Sox, Athletics and Cubs. His six earned runs over 7.1 innings in the 2014 AL Wild Card game against the Royals helped knock the A’s out of the playoffs early yet again. As a member of the Cubs during last postseason, Lester started twice, holding a 4.50 E.R.A. over 14 innings, maintaining a steady 19/4 strikeout-walk ratio. While Jake Arrieta has been considered the Cubs’ ace all season, manager Joe Maddon has penciled Arrieta for a Game 3, with the idea that he wants his best pitcher on the road.
Johnny Cueto has had postseason struggles of his own throughout his career and will look to clean his postseason slate as a member of the Giants. Friday, he’ll try and reverse a career 5.35 ERA through seven starts and block out the memory of getting absolutely shelled last postseason with the Kansas City Royals where he gave up 25 runs in 15 innings of work in the playoffs.
Lester was a tale of two pitchers in his two 2016 starts against the Giants, dominating them in a three-hit complete game at Wrigley Field on September 2nd, while getting chased after just two innings after allowing five earned runs at AT&T Park on May 21st. Cueto fared well in his only appearance against Chicago this season, giving up a single run in seven innings of work at Wrigley Field on Sept. 4. The Giants would go on to lose that game on a blown save in the ninth inning.
Overall, it was a relatively even season series with the Cubs taking four of the seven contests and outscoring the Giants 21-17. The Giants won’t count on Matt Cain to repeat his victory against the Cubs from May, but they will turn to the only other pitcher to beat the Cubs in 2016 season for the Giants, Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner won both of his outings against the Cubs while allowing just eight hits on two runs in 13.2 innings of work.