Cueto on demeanor after Game 3 exit: 'It's just part of my DNA'
The Kansas City Royals lost a slugfest in Game 3 of the ALCS on Monday night, falling 11-8 to the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre after a particularly disastrous outing from Johnny Cueto.
Coming off a dazzling performance in ALDS Game 5 that helped the Royals advance to the ALCS, Cueto struggled mightily against the powerful Blue Jays, giving up six hits, eight earned runs and allowing four walks in just two innings of work. After being removed from the game in the bottom of the third, Cueto appeared to smirk or smile as he hit the showers. After the game, though, he told Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com that he was not, in fact, smiling:
Johnny Cueto, through Pedro Grifol, said he wasn't laughing or smirking. "It's just part of my DNA." #Royals pic.twitter.com/lobVG53AVE
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) October 20, 2015
Just how rough of a night did Cueto have? This graphic shared on Twitter by a devoted Royals fan named Brandon H. breaks it down:
Cueto's night: every sinker hit into play was a hit. Cueto couldn't throw fastballs for strikes. pic.twitter.com/YWSfvkAxb7
— Brandon H. (@BHIndepMO) October 20, 2015
After the game, manager Ned Yost spoke about Cueto's ineffective outing and more or less guaranteed he'd be better if and when he pitches again in this series (even saying 'I guarantee you, if he makes another start in this series he'll be good.') Here is Yost's full postgame address regarding Cueto:
There is a bit of silver lining after Monday night for the Royals, however. They still lead the series 2-1 with veteran Chris Young taking the mound in Tuesday's Game 4. Also, Yost only needed to use two additional pitchers to navigate the remaining innings on Monday: right-hander Kris Medlen and Franklin Morales. Conversely, Toronto had to bring in closer Roberto Osuna in the ninth to preserve the victory. That may be something to watch as the series continues.
