Cincinnati Reds defeat Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 – MLB Update
The Cincinnati Reds came back from behind with a 3-1 victory on Wednesday, July 20 to prevent the Pittsburgh Pirates from a series sweep at PNC Park.
The game witnessed the resurgent Reds as Johnny Cueto pitched six strong innings to pave the way for a 3-1 win.
Having lost the first game by 2-0 and the second by 1-0, clearly with no big margins, the Reds gathered their energy back to outperform the Pittsburgh Pirates. In order to do this, they had to contain the Pirates’ offence and re-animate their own defence.
It was what the Reds’ manager acknowledged once the game came to the end. "We were going to try to score a run any way we could early, especially knowing the fact that they don't give up a lot of runs -- especially here in their ballpark," Baker said.
Joey Votto could not possibly be more instrumental on Wednesday when the game commenced. In the very first inning of Jeff Karstens, Votto hit a sacrifice fly hit to give an early lead to the Reds.
An ideal start provided, Cueto the opportunity to toss pitches which were at best unplayable for the Pirates’ offence. Cueto did not allow any Pirates’ hitter to touch the ball as they were rendered helpless.
"What I was thinking is, we need to win today, and I give a good game, a quality start," Cueto said. "I need to make good pitches, and the team will help me with runs and we can get a win."
Miguel Cairo had another single scored in the second inning off the seemingly straining Jeff Karstens. Once the lead was doubled, Cueto threw pitches with ever more increasing pace.
Having pitched in 14 games this season, Cueto has had an ERA of 1.98 with 1.00 WHIP, allowing 26 runs. With his 3.92 ERA career record in 106 games, Cueto certainly has a long way to go to serve the team.
He pitched right into the third inning, scoreless. Walker was the only one to score for the Pirates in the fourth inning which saw two hits as well. The lead was down to 2-1, the Reds then redoubled their efforts to avoid the series sweep.
Cueto scored the third run against the Pirates and Karstens in the fifth inning, giving the team a 3-1 lead.
"They were two plays we need to put away," said Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle. "That basically was pretty much the difference."
Cueto pitched six innings to give up four hits and a run. Once he was relieved by Logan Ondrusek, as he pitched a shut-out eighth and Francisco Cordero pitched a scoreless ninth to hand the Reds a 3-1 win.
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