The engine of the Reds’ rotation is once again purring like a kitten, and as its fifth starter, Mike Leake has done every bit his part to keep it running smooth.
Leake had his second straight scoreless outing and benefited from some Mets miscues in the field to get a 4-0 victory on Tuesday at Citi Field. His seven innings of work have given him 13 2/3 scoreless frames in his last two starts.
“Everything seemed to work,” Leake said. “They were pretty aggressive tonight, so I was able to locate the fastball first pitch and get some early outs. If I needed to go deep, I had some other pitches to use as well.”
Leake, who gave up only three hits and two walks with four strikeouts, is 4-2 with a 3.25 ERA in nine starts this season, as all six Reds starters used have ERAs of 3.28 or lower thus far. One of those pitchers includes Tony Cingrani, who lost out on staying in the Majors when Johnny Cueto returned from the disabled list.
There was no place on the roster for Cingrani, especially with Leake excelling from the fifth spot. He has a 2.28 ERA over his last seven starts.
“The guy has worked hard,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “The guy has been under a lot of scrutiny. He’s young. Sometimes you expect a whole lot out of young guys — too much sometimes, too soon. He’s throwing the ball as well as anybody we have.”
Since the Reds’ rotation ended a stretch of nine straight games without a quality start, the group has been stellar. In the nine games since — beginning on May 12 against the Brewers — the starting five is 6-0 with a 1.44 ERA and seven quality starts.
“Everything starts with those five guys,” said catcher Devin Mesoraco, who walked with the bases loaded in the first inning and hit a homer to lead off the top of the ninth. “We’ve got full confidence in them, especially with what they’ve done in the past. They’ll go out there and give us a chance to win a ballgame.”
Mets starter Jon Niese got two quick outs in the top of the first before the inning got out of control. Niese had full counts on his next three hitters and all reached safely, with a walk to Joey Votto, a soft single by Brandon Phillips and a Jay Bruce walk that loaded the bases.
The big break of the night followed. Todd Frazier hit a routine ground ball that rolled between the legs of third baseman David Wright to score two runs.
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