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MILWAUKEE, WI -Jay
Bruce #32 of the Cincinnati Reds congratulates Joey Votto #19 after
scoring in the ninth inning during the game against the Milwaukee
Brewers catches the ball at Miller Park on May 9, 2012 in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. The Reds defeated the Brewers 2-1.
Votto polishes
Cueto’s gem after stellar duel
reds.com
MILWAUKEE - Johnny Cueto and Zack Greinke provided a pitchers’ battle
of the highest quality on Wednesday afternoon -- the kind that would
make it worth playing hooky from work to take in.
“It’s rare that a pitchers’ duel like that lives up to its billing, but
it certainly did today,” said Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun.
Yet the Reds’ narrow 2-1 victory came following a harrowing nail-biter
of a ninth inning in which both closers didn’t get the job done.
It was Joey Votto’s two-out RBI double off John Axford that provided
the go-ahead run for Cincinnati.
“Zack is always a handful. John Axford is a very good pitcher in his
own right, and we stole one from him,” Votto said. “It’s great whenever
you can sneak out a win against those two pitchers.”
The win made the series and the road trip look supremely better. The
Reds won two of three in Milwaukee and go home with a 4-2 record for
the road trip. They are now 16-14 overall.
“That was huge,” said manager Dusty Baker, who recorded career victory
No. 1,500. “We have a winning road trip and are two over .500 on our
overall record. That was a big win.”
When the bullpens took over, it was a 0-0 game in the bottom of the
eighth. Greinke and Axford combined for five straight strikeouts over
the eighth and ninth innings, as the Reds had only two hits for the
whole game.
Drew Stubbs knocked a 1-2 pitch into center field for a single to give
Cincinnati an opening.
Votto lined his double through the gap in right-center. Corey Hart had
to make a long run to retrieve the ball, allowing Stubbs to motor from
first base and score easily. Brandon Phillips followed with a flared
single into center field that scored Votto, which proved to be a
pivotal insurance run.
Axford needed 32 pitches to get through the inning.
“That’s a tough customer,” Baker said. “He’s one of the best in the
league. We don’t get him very often.”
Aroldis Chapman struck out two in the bottom of the eighth for the
victory and left it all set up for Sean Marshall to secure the save in
the ninth. But Marshall couldn’t close it out.
Braun tightened it up when he led off with a homer to left field. There
were two outs when Jonathan Lucroy worked Marshall in an 11-pitch
at-bat, including six straight fouls, and lined a single to left field.
Pinch-hitter Norichika Aoki blooped a full-count pitch for a single
into short left field.
Marshall was lifted with 35 pitches, and Logan Ondrusek was summoned.
“We knew we were going to face George Kottaras, but we wanted a fresh
arm in there,” Baker said. “Lucroy took a lot out of [Marshall] because
he fouled off seven or eight pitches and finally got one up that he hit
into the outfield. Then Aoki blooped one in there, and I figured that
was enough. I hate to take the closer out, but we needed that ballgame.”
Pinch-hitter Kottaras walked on five pitches to load the bases, but on
the first pitch he saw, Travis Ishikawa flied to left field to end the
game, giving Ondrusek his first big league save.
“That’s not the way you want to get a save, obviously,” Ondrusek said.
“You want Marshall to be out there and close the door. I’m glad I got
out of there without allowing any more damage and going to extra
innings.”
As messy as the ninth became, the first eight innings were crisp and
clean. Cueto gave the Reds seven innings with five hits, one walk and
five strikeouts. Greinke dealt eight innings with two hits, no walks
and 11 strikeouts. Both starters made 104 pitches.
This marked the first time in 19 games that the Brewers lost a home
game that Greinke started. He didn’t allow a hit until Stubbs’ one-out
double in the fourth and didn’t have another baserunner until Phillips’
two-out single in the seventh.
It did not faze Cueto, however.
“I felt good, because I was throwing my game,” Cueto said. “I was
trying to keep them away from scoring runs. That was my game.”
The Brewers had some chances to get to Cueto but came up empty in the
second and third innings. In the second, Cueto gave up a leadoff double
to Aramis Ramirez and a one-out single to Lucroy. Taylor Green grounded
into a routine 6-4-3 double play to kill the rally. Cueto escaped the
third after having the bases loaded and two outs. He’d made 52 pitches
at that point but he went on to retire the next 12, including a
seven-pitch fourth inning.
Cueto has kept opponents scoreless for 16 consecutive innings over two
starts and has allowed only one run over his last 23 innings to lower
his ERA to 1.13 in seven starts.
“I knew it was going to be tough. [Cueto] is probably the most
underappreciated pitcher since he’s been healthy last year,” Greinke
said. “His numbers are pretty insane, and I don’t think I’ve really
heard anyone talk about him being one of the better pitchers in the
league. Maybe it’s time to start that.”
Read this and other articles at reds.com
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