Cincinnati Reds defeat Washington Nationals 2-1 – MLB Update
Johnny Cueto had almost another shut-out game on Wednesday, August 17 to help the Cincinnati Reds beat the Washington Nationals by 2-1 at Nationals Park.
Cueto tossed a magical spell of eight innings where by allowed only a run to the straining Washington Nationals’ offence.
With his 1.89 ERA this season in his 19 games (9 of which he has won for the Cincinnati Reds), Cueto allowed only six hits to add to the discontent and subsequent defeat of the Washington Nationals. After losing the first game by 6-4, this was the best the
Reds could offer.
"In the bullpen warming up, I felt really, really good today," Cueto said. "My main thing was location. I was locating the pitches where I wanted, except the one (Zimmerman) hit out. The ball was supposed to go outside, and it landed in the middle."
The team manager was highly pleased with the performance. "Johnny Cueto threw a heck of a ballgame," Reds’ manager Dusty Baker said. "We were hoping that possibly he could shut them out and go the distance, but that home run by Zimmerman kind of negated
that."
Cueto has pitched 128.1 innings this season so far, allowing only 38 runs. His career has been highly bright as well with 111 games that he has played, winning 41 of them with 3.81 ERA at a time when the Cincinnati Reds need it a great deal.
Wednesday’s game was kicked off by Ross Detwiler on the mound. Pitching fastballs with accuracy, he could not –however, hold Joey Votto back from the homer that he hit, allowing his team to have a safe 1-0 lead by the end of the first inning.
The lead was all the more important given the exceptionally amazing performance of the Cincinnati Reds starter Johnny Cueto. Having remained unbeatable for quite a while now, his Wednesday’s performance was another marvel.
With Detwiler giving up a run, Johnny Cueto, on the other hand, was beyond the Washington National offence, none of whose hitter could score any run as he kept the Reds lead intact right into the seventh with 1-0.
As Sean Burnett came to replace Detwiler, Ramon Hernandez had another single to double the lead for the Cincinnati Reds. As Ryan Zimmerman hit a homer in the start of the ninth that gave the National’s its first run, the closer Francisco Cordero was called
in as a closer.
Cordero barely allowed any space to the Nationals’ hitters and wrapped up the game with 2-1 victory for the Cincinnati Reds to level the series with 1-1. The series final game will be played on Thursday.
The Cincinnati Reds now are two games ahead of the Washington Nationals. With the Reds winning 60 of their games, the Nationals have 58 games to their credit.
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