As Wednesday afternoon evolved, there was no doubt that the Reds-Pirates series rubber game at Great American Ball Park belonged to Johnny Cueto. That’s because the Reds ace simply took control of it and made it his own.
Cueto was the epitome of in command during a three-hit shutout and 4-0 win over the Pirates that gave the Reds their first series of the season in five tries.
“I felt really strong the whole time and confident,” said Cueto, who threw 107 pitches. “At the end of the game, I was really confident that every single pitch was good.”
Cueto struck out a career-high 12 without issuing a walk. It was the fourth time in his career he has struck out at least 10. He now has three career shutouts and seven complete games, but it was his first shutout since July 31, 2011, vs. the Giants.
Cincinnati has improved to a 6-9 record after winning three of its last four games.
“I think [Cueto] understands going into it that we’re sitting at 5-9 and hadn’t won a series,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “It’s a team we feel like we’ll be competing against all year for the division. Every game is important. It doesn’t matter if it’s April or September. We need to win games.”
Cueto threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of his 30 batters. Two of his hits allowed were infield singles and Andrew McCutchen’s one-out double in the fourth was the only time he had a runner in scoring position all afternoon.
“Yeah, it was pretty apparent what he was able do out there,” McCutchen said. “Numbers speak for themselves. He had all his stuff working today.”
After the double, Cueto retired 17 of his last 18 batters and the final 13 in a row.
“He was mixing that cutter and was unbelievable,” catcher Brayan Pena said. “He was using both sides of the plate. He was throwing front-door cutters. He was throwing back-door cutters. It made his changeup and sinker even better. He’s been pitching very good lately.”
Over his four starts in 2014, Cueto has a 1.50 ERA with five earned runs allowed over 30 innings. He’s walked eight and struck out 35.
Yet, Cueto has only one victory. Before Wednesday, the Reds had scored one run over Cueto’s 21 innings while he was on the mound.
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