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Cincinnati
Reds...
Cueto’s start,
Ludwick’s homer top D-backs
CINCINNATI -- When a final is 4-0, like the win the Reds achieved over
the D-Backs on Tuesday, the line score doesn’t always equate to a
crisp, smooth evening for the victor.
No, the Reds had to fight their way through this one to notch their
seventh win in the last eight games -- and their second game without
the injured Joey Votto.
“It felt like a 1-0 game instead of a 4-0 game because we were in
trouble all the time,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “I imagine quite
a few of these games now are going to be battle-type games without Joey
here and the offense.”
Reds ace Johnny Cueto kept Arizona off the scoreboard for the first six
innings, and retired his first 10 batters in a row. But his night was
not without drama as Cueto walked four with four hits and struck out
three while working out of two bases-loaded jams.
A three-hour, 26-minute game, this was a lengthy night under steamy
temperatures where the combined hits barely beat the combined walks,
13-10. There were a combined 20 strikeouts, including 11 for the
Cincinnati pitching staff.
Arizona was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12
men overall. The Reds were 1-for-8 in those situations and stranded six.
“Not a ton of offense on either side,” said Reds left fielder Ryan
Ludwick, who provided the biggest highlight with a three-run home run
in the third inning. “It was a well-pitched ballgame. You get pitching
like that, you’re going to win a lot of baseball games.”
Facing a wild-throwing D-Backs top prospect in right-handed pitcher
Trevor Bauer, the Reds manufactured their first run without needing a
hit. Drew Stubbs began the first inning with a walk and Zack Cozart
reached on a fielding error by shortstop Stephen Drew. A one-out double
steal put runners on second and third before a wild pitch in the dirt
to Ludwick scored Stubbs.
Cincinnati is 31-2 this season in games when Stubbs scores a run.
The Reds’ first hit didn’t come until the third inning as Bauer dug his
own holes with two walks and an errant pickoff throw. That set up
Ludwick, who blasted a 1-0 pitch into the second deck of bleachers in
left field for a four-run lead.
“After he hit that home run and gave me that lead, I said ‘You know
what? I’m going to stop this game here and we’re going to get it,’”
said Cueto through his interpreter.
Cueto, who was scratched from his start Sunday because of a blister on
his right index finger, was bothered by the injury.
“It didn’t open up to bleed, it was just the skin came off a little
bit,” Baker said. “It was expected with that rough baseball and the
area is tender. He battled big time.”
“I felt it a little bit. Thank God I finished my game without anything
major,” said Cueto, who is 6-1 in games he’s started this season
following a Reds’ loss.
In the fifth inning, a two-out walk to Drew put Cueto in a bases loaded
situation and he escaped with a Willie Bloomquist flyout to right field.
“He’s got good stuff,” Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. “He moves it
around. He’s got a good fastball, slider, a good changeup. He throws
the ball where he wants to throw it.”
In the sixth, Aaron Hill hit a leadoff single and Justin Upton singled
with one out. Cueto struck out Paul Goldschmidt, but walked struggling
.207 hitter Chris Young after running up a full count.
Next batter Gerardo Parra also worked a full count, but on his 106th
and final pitch, Cueto got Parra to swing and miss at a high 94-mph
fastball out of the strike zone to end the threat. Cueto pumped his
fist and pointed to the sky as he walked off the field, sweating
profusely.
“That was a big strikeout of Parra on that bad pitch because it would
have walked in a run and I would have had to go to my bullpen earlier
than I really wanted to,” Baker said. “Johnny struggled, but he
battled.”
Cueto improved to 11-5 with a 2.28 ERA. He’s one win shy of his career
best of 12 set in 2010. Despite not being named an All-Star, he has the
second-best ERA in the National League.
“This guy got out of trouble tonight and that’s the mark of a good
pitcher,” Baker said. “His ERA isn’t what it is if he doesn’t know how
to get out of trouble. He can dial it up when he wants to and when he
needs to, which he did.”
Jose Arredondo and Sam LeCure each gave up a hit, but both worked a
scoreless inning apiece following Cueto. Sean Marshall was to finish
the game, but gave up a pair of singles to put two runners on with two
outs. With the heart of the Arizona order approaching, Baker summoned
Aroldis Chapman, who notched his 14th save by striking out Hill with a
101-mph fastball.
The first-place Reds retained their one-game lead over the Pirates in
the NL Central, but have a ways to go before being through the
wilderness without Votto.
“We just have to pick one another up,” Ludwick said. “We’re still
talented. Joey is obviously a $250 million player so he’s an elite
caliber, one of the best players in all the big leagues. You’re going
to miss him. That’s part of it. We still have some pretty good players
in here. I think we’ll be all right.”
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