When you take the mound at Coors Field, you expect to deal with your surroundings. You know the thin air will turn some pop-ups into homers, and the massive outfield will turn bloop singles into stand-up doubles. The hard infield adds to the terror, too.
What you don't expect is to fall off the mound, but Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto nearly did with his trademark shimmy Monday night against the Colorado Rockies. Cueto rocked back and forth with two outs in the fourth, but his right leg buckled.
The recovery was both hilarious and impressive.
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"I have great balance and I was able to recuperate and I threw a strike," Cueto said after a 7-6 loss. "It's just the emotion of the game. That's what I like to do, have fun."
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Cueto has taken his shimmy to new heights this season, and he had a similarly wobbly moment in the season opener at Dodger Stadium. The most impressive part was the recovery.
San Francisco Giants
If you watch Monday's video a few times, you'll see Cueto gets back into a completely normal position after the shimmy, delivering a curveball low and away. Chris Owings pounded it into the grass for an inning-ending grounder to third.
"I think Johnny himself was giggling as he came off the mound," manager Gabe Kapler said. "Tonight is a tough one to swallow and deal with, but I think it's also okay to point out something that was kind of fun that happened. He loses his balance, collects himself, delivers a secondary pitch for a strike. It's just really impressive. There's not many people out there that can do that."
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