JOHNNY
CUETO HURLS A ONE-HIT GEM AGAINST THE PIRATES
5.12.10 BY:MEH
ANARCHY IN THE PA
JOHNNY CUETO HURLS A
ONE-HIT GEM AGAINST THE PIRATES
(Photo:
Gene J. Puskar/AP)
Johnny "Rotten" Cueto
started Tuesday's game for the Reds and walked away with the finest
performance of his young career under his belt. Striking out eight batters
and walking none, Cueto pitched a complete game shutout against the
Pittsburgh Pirates allowing
only one hit on 102 pitches. Ronny Cedeno acquired the sole Bucco hit in
the third inning and reached base once again after being plunked by Cueto in
the sixth. Cedeno was the only Pirate to reach base. The last Reds' pitcher
to throw a complete-game one-hitter was John Smiley on September 22, 1996.
Ramon Hernandez caught Cueto's gem and had
this to say:
"He
was very strong with the fastball. His problem’s been he’s had a long pitch
count in the fifth. That’s normally his problem. One of the ways you get out
of that is to call a lot of fastballs and don’t move too much around home
plate. We got ahead with that and got quick outs."
If it weren't for
Cueto's dominance, most of Tuesday's headlines would be bearing the name
of Chris "Vicious" Heisey. After a dismal 0-5 debut against the New York
Mets on May 3rd, Heisey went 3-4 on Tuesday notching his first major league
hit and homerun. Heisey led off the game with a single down the third base
line and crushed a two run shot off Jeff Karstens in the eighth inning. The
Reds beat the Pirates 9-0.
Reds' top prospect
Juan Francisco was rushed to the hospital prior to Tuesday's game in
Louisville. Francisco had emergency appendectomy surgery and is expected to
miss four to six weeks. After a rough start to the season, Francisco hit
.627 with three home runs and fourteen RBI in his last seven games with the
Bats.
After being swept by Pittsburg last time they visited, the Reds will attempt
redemption on Wednesday. Homer Bailey (0-2, 7.24) will face Zach Duke (2-3,
5.13) at 12:35pm.