Cueto, White Sox can't contain Diamondbacks
Not even Johnny Cueto could pull the White Sox out of their latest tailspin.
One of the very few players on the roster that's met or exceeded expectations and stayed healthy this season, Cueto came into Friday night's interleague game against the Diamondbacks with a 5-1 record and 2.17 ERA over his last 10 starts, all of them quality outings.
His start against Arizona was not.
In a 7-2 loss at Guaranteed Rate Field, Cueto barely got out of the second inning, when he gave up 6 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks.
The 36-year-old righty stuck around for 5 innings and allowed 7 runs on 5 hits as the Sox (63-63) dropped back to the .500 mark after losing for the seventh time in nine games.
"Bad outing," Cueto said through a translator. "You're going to have those throughout the year. They fought in those at-bats. It wasn't the outcome I wanted but it happened. Just a bad outing."
It's been a bad year for the White Sox, and the crowd of 33,054 was booing when they exited the field after losing to the Diamondbacks.
"They came to see us win a ballgame and we got beat," manager Tony La Russa said. "They have every right to be upset."
La Russa said the crowd was great late in the game when the Sox were trying to rally from a steep deficit. He understood the boos when it came up well short.
"There's amazing fan support here, but there ain't no free lunch," La Russa said. "If they support you, you have to give back. We have to do a better job giving back."
Cueto said the crowd is welcome to voice its displeasure.
"I think they can do whatever they want to do, they're fans," Cueto said. "We have to keep our heads up and keep moving forward. Keep grinding."
The game was a homecoming for Diamondbacks center fielder Alek Thomas, the son of former White Sox strength and conditioning coach Allen Thomas. Alek attended Mount Carmel High School and was Arizona's second-round draft pick in 2018.
In his return to Guaranteed Rate Field, Thomas opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly and made two standout catches in center.
A standout prep player, Thomas knew the Sox weren't going to draft him due to past turmoil with the sons of vice president Kenny Williams and former manager Ozzie Guillen.
"I think they came to my dad and respectfully said, 'I don't think we're going to take your son,'" Thomas said. "I think they were done drafting family members. They just took a step back from that. Being a White Sox fan, I was like, 'Yeah, they shouldn't take me. They should take a college pitcher.' I think they did.
"Then, drafting an outfielder (Steele Walker) rubbed me the wrong away a little bit. But they told me they weren't going to draft me anyway. It was funny to see that."