SAN DIEGO -- The San Francisco Giants' 5-4 triumph Friday night over the San Diego Padres was tempered by the possibility that right-hander Johnny Cueto might need to take a break from pitching to treat tenderness on the surface of his fingers.
Cueto, the Giants' leading winner last year (18-5) and the No. 1 starter in their rotation this season in Madison Bumgarner's absence, complained of "hot spots" on the middle three fingers of his throwing hand.
"I think that the best thing for me to do would be to take some time off," Cueto said through translator Erwin Higueros. "I'm not throwing very well, and I don't want to hurt myself."
Asked what caused the discomfort, Cueto said, "I don't know. The baseball. Three fingers, I just can't feel it."

Cueto has endured trouble with blisters through much of this season. 
Cueto lacked his usual effectiveness and endurance. He lasted four innings, his shortest start as a Giant and his briefest outing overall since he worked three innings on Sept. 6, 2015, for Kansas City against the White Sox. He threw 82 pitches, his lowest total since he amassed 76 last Aug. 8 at Miami, while yielding three runs and six hits and issuing three walks.
"He felt it around the second inning, he said, and he just couldn't 'finish' his pitches," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "You could tell he wasn't quite right."
Nothing's certain at this juncture. The Giants will continue to monitor Cueto's condition in the next two or three days before they decide whether he's fit enough to pitch on Wednesday, when he would make his next scheduled start against Cleveland.