The way things had been going for Johnny Cueto and Lance Lynn, a pitching duel on Thursday afternoon between the two wouldn’t exactly have been a far-fetched proposition.
The two right-handers matched each other inning for inning for seven scoreless frames. But thanks to a highlight-reel catch by right fielder Jay Bruce that robbed Matt Adams of a home run and the Cincinnati offense finally breaking through in the eighth, the Reds beat the Cardinals, 1-0, to take three of four from St. Louis at Great American Ball Park.
The series win over St. Louis was the Reds’ first in five tries this season, and just their second in the last 13 series against the Cardinals overall.
In the seventh, Adams hit a deep drive to right field against Cueto. Bruce drifted back, timed his leap and reached over the wall to preserve the scoreless tie. A fan was reaching for the ball simultaneously, but Bruce managed to snag the ball anyway.
“You’ve got to try and get back there as fast as you can and find the way in the process,” Bruce said. “I knew it was going to be close. I didn’t know if it would be just out of reach. You never want to assume because you don’t want to assume it’s gone and get back there and it hits the wall.”
Needless to say, Cueto was appreciative of Bruce’s effort.
“I looked at Jay, and when I saw him timing the ball, and kept looking and kept looking and I saw he got it. … Thank God that the wind pulled it a little bit in, and Jay got it,” Cueto said through translator Tomas Vera.
With the game still scoreless in the eighth, Brandon Phillips drew a walk to lead off the frame and moved to third on a Bruce single. Ramon Santiago then lifted a soft fly ball to shallow center, where Jon Jay charged and dropped it, allowing Phillips to score.
Bruce’s defensive gem wasn’t the only one on the afternoon behind Cueto. With a runner at third and two outs in the third, Matt Holliday hit a sharp ground ball headed past the bag at first base and down the right-field line, but Todd Frazier snared it on a full-extension dive and flipped to Cueto covering for the out.
Cueto also induced two ground balls that turned into double plays, one of which made a two-on, nobody out situation into a runner-on-third, two-out scenario before Frazier’s great play ended the third.
Overall, Cueto went eight innings, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out seven to earn his 18th win, which ties him with the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw for the Major League lead. He has gone eight or more innings while allowing two earned runs or less 13 times this season, and improved to 10-2 with a 1.55 ERA in day games.
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