Johnny Cueto’s pitching helps Cincinnati Reds defeat Chicago Cubs 2-0 – MLB Update
Cincinnati Reds put up a powerful defence to easily beat Chicago Cubs 2-0 at Wrigley Field, Chicago on Sunday, May 8.
The Cubs’ offence found itself in deep trouble after the Reds’ debutant Johnny Cueto, exhibited an extraordinary feat with his incredibly swift fastballs. The Reds are an enviably stable position after the starting rotation got a boost from the arrival of
Homer Bailey who had remained unfit for a while.
On Saturday it was the Cubs that had won a difficult 3-2 victory over the Reds, but this time Cincinnati’s pitching combination was strong enough to take a victory.
It was Cueto whose performance was top class. Pitching right into the seventh inning, he virtually accomplished perfection executing seven shut-out innings. "I wanted to throw that many because it made me feel stronger," Cueto said. "I felt strong. I felt
like I could have kept pitching."
Reds’ manager Dusty Baker, who was dismayed after Saturday’s performance, was obviously overjoyed with his team’s victory and especially complimented Cueto. “That was a great outing by Cueto. Took him to his limit, I think. He was still throwing the ball
well, but you have to remember that's his first outing. He was awesome. He got out of that big bases loaded situation, Sam LeCure got out of a bases loaded situation and we had just enough offense to win," Baker added.
Sunday’s game commenced with Ryan Dempster pitching for Chicago. He was effective enough to pitch a scoreless inning followed by Cueto whose fastballs were simply unable to be struck. From Kosuke Fukudome to Starlin Castro, none of the Cubs’ hitters were
able to score any run.
Ramon Hernandez gave a very early 1-0 lead to Cincinnati when he singled to left on a vulnerable fastball of Dempster. Ryan gave up two hits in the inning and allowed one run which was from what it apparently seemed, was going to make a good start for Reds.
Dempster was unable to contain Cincinnati’s hitters, as his performance was average.
Cueto monopolised the game with his fastballs, keeping the 1-0 lead for his team intact. Drew Stubbs scored the second and most glaringly winning run for the Reds in the fifth inning.
Nick Masset replaced Cueto in the eighth inning, as he defended the lead victoriously and gave a 2-0 win to Cincinnati.
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