Johnny Cueto, Hunter Pence lead Giants past Padres 2-1

SAN DIEGO - The San Francisco Giants came to the Gaslamp Quarter here knowing they would enjoy a free Monday in one of America’s finest cities. Turns out their bullpen got Tuesday and Wednesday off, too.

Just as Madison Bumgarner did Tuesday night, Johnny Cueto ensured that no relief pitcher did more than unbutton a jacket. Cueto threw a four-hit complete game and Hunter Pence whacked an 0-2 pitch over the fence as the Giants took a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

Cueto and Madison Bumgarner became the first Giants to throw nine-inning complete games on consecutive days since Livan Hernandez and Jason Schmidt on Aug. 19-20, 2002.

The Giants’ win streak reached seven games, and they’re set up for Jeff Samardzija to try for something today that would be a century in the making: a perfect record on their seven-game trip to Arizona and San Diego.

The last time the Giants went undefeated on a trip of at least seven games, you ask? Well, Christy Mathewson was the winning pitcher three times. It was 1913, when the Giants swept four-game series at Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl and Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field.

Cueto appears to have enjoyed his time in San Diego. He used his break Monday to go to Sea World, and shared a photo on Instagram of him kissing a dolphin. Maybe he’s always had a secret desire to be a marine biologist?

For now, he’s pretty good at his current job. He’s also pretty good against the Padres no matter what uniform he wears. He carried a streak of 22 scoreless innings against them into Wednesday’s start.

The Padres stopped that streak in the second inning when Brett Wallace hit a leadoff double and scored on Alexei Ramirez’s two-out single up the middle.

But Cueto kept the Padres off balance the rest of the night, and he economized his pitches so well that they couldn’t rid themselves of him. He threw a 94 mph fastball by Wil Myers on his 102nd pitch of the night to end the eighth inning, and Bruce Bochy gave him a shot at the complete game.

With Santiago Casilla standing ready in the bullpen, Cueto struck out Matt Kemp and Wallace. He got two quick strikes on Melvin Upton, Jr. but couldn’t get the free-swinging outfielder to bite at four pitches out of the zone.

Even after Cueto’s fourth ball splashed in the dirt, Bochy stayed with his starter. One pitch later, Derek Norris hit a foul pop and Buster Posey gloved it to seal the Giants’ eighth victory in Cueto’s nine starts this season.

Cueto also helped himself by fielding his position. Although he doesn’t resemble a track star, Cueto bounds off the mound as quickly as anyone. He ranged almost all the way to the third base chalk line while fielding Matt Kemp’s nubber, and threw across his body in time for an impressive out to end the sixth inning.

The Giants had a tough assignment in left-hander Drew Pomeranz, whose scoreless streak reached 18 innings as he headed to the fourth. Pence turned the streak on its side, following a leadoff walk to Posey with a shot that barely cleared the right field wall. It would’ve been a deep out here two seasons ago, before the Padres moved in the fences.