The Cincinnati Reds defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 as the two teams finished up a three game series on Thursday night. The Reds scored single runs in the second, sixth, and ninth innings of the game to beat the Pirates. With the win, the Reds took two out of three games against the Pirates.

Jose Valentin got the Reds scoring started with a solo home run in the second inning. Chris Dickerson then added a rbi double in the sixth inning. Jeff Keppinger added an insurance run with a sacrafice in the ninth inning. That was enough offense support the way the Reds pitching staff threw the ball.

Six Reds pitchers combined to limit the Pirates to only one run. Johnny Cueto pitched five innings to pick up the win and improve to 8-11 on the year. Francisco Cordero recorded his 23rd save of the season in the game as well. All in all, the pitchers did a great job.

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The Cincinnati Reds pulled out a 4-3 victory over the San Diego Padres in 11 innings on Tuesday evening.  Jeff Keppinger hit a game winning double that scored Jay Bruce for the game winning run as the Reds evened up the series at one game each.

Paul Bako got the Reds scoring started in the 6th inning with a two run single and then Joey Votto added a rbi single in the inning as well.  The Reds didn’t score again until the Keppinger rbi double that was the game winner in the 11th inning.

Red starting pitcher Johnny Cueto got the no decision as he only lasted six innings.  Cueto was pulled after giving up four hits and three runs.  He did strikeout ten batters while nly walking three however.  Mike Lincoln tossed two innings in relief while  Jeremy Affeldt, Bill Bray, and Gary Majewski all pitched one inning of relief.  Majewski picked up the win and is now 1-0.

Good come from behind win for the Reds as they were able to even up the series.  Reds Blog

The Cincinnati Reds once again struggled at the plate as they were only able to come up with two hit against Carlos Zambrano and the Chicago Cubs.  The Reds ended up losing to the Cubs by the score of 5-1 and have now lost the first two games of a three game series to the Cubs.

The one hit that matters was a solo home run by Adam Dunn in the second inning.  The Reds did get another hit in the ninth inning when Jay Bruce reached on a infield single.  The Reds then loaded the bases with two walks before Brandon Phillips popped out to Derrek Lee to end the game.

Johnny Cueto tossed 6 2/3 innings to take the loss.  Cueto is now 7-9 on the season.  He really struggled in the game because he could not throw his off speed pitches for strikes.  The Cubs were sitting back and just hammering the fast ball all night long.  David Weathers tossed the final 1 2/3 innigs of the game.

Reds will look to avoid the sweep on Thursday afternoon.  I don’t like their chances one bit to be honest.

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Johnny Cueto and the Reds bullpen (notably David Weathers, Jared Burton and Francisco Cordero) shut out the Cleveland Indians to win the vaunted “Ohio Cup”, for whatever that’s worth.  Adam Dunn hit a solo shot in the top of the first, but the big blow was a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double by Paul Bako in the fourth.  Brandon Phillips drove in the final run with a seventh-inning single.

Indians starter Paul Byrd absorbed his ninth loss of the season.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, a better alternative to OPS.

Johnny Cueto duelled Andy Pettite for five innings, but did not come back out after an hour-long rain delay, and the Yankees found the offerings of the Reds bullpen more to their liking, scoring three in the sixth off Gary Majewski and Jeremy Affeldt.  Jason Giambi was 3-for-3 with two RBI for the Yankees.  Ken Griffey Jr. hit a solo homer for the Reds’ only run.  Mariano Rivera pitched the final inning and a third to earn his 21st save of the year.

A bearded Jeff Keppinger, activated before the game, started the game at shortstop, but briefly moved to third when Edwin Encarnacion developed back spasms.  Andy Phillips was designated for assignment to make room on the roster for Keppinger.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, a better alternative to OPS.

Johnny Cueto pitched a good ballgame for the Reds, but Chad Billingsley shut down the Reds offense as the Dodgers beat the Reds, 3-1.

Pinch-hitter Javier Valentin drove in the only Reds run with a groundout in the seventh.  Joey Votto collected two of the Reds’ six hits on the night.  Jeff Kent went three for four for the Dodgers.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an improvement over OPS.

Johnny Cueto walked eight and gave up six earned runs in five innings, while the Reds offense managed only three hits off Braden Looper, who pitched not only his first career shutout, but his first career complete game.  The defense wasn’t any better, as Cueto threw one away in the infield, and Jay Bruce dropped one in the outfield.  Ryan Ludwick, Rick Ankiel and even cowboy Jason LaRue homered for the Cardinals, who cruised to a 10-0 victory.

 Jolbert Cabrera, who was brought up from Louisville when Jerry Hairston Jr. went on the 15-day DL, made his first start for the Reds, playing second base in place of the slumping Brandon Phillips.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an alternative to OPS.

Jay Bruce drove in three runs, and Brandon Phillips and Jerry Hairston Jr. drove in two apiece as the Reds scored early and often off Andrew Miller and a succession of Marlin relievers, and coasted to an 11-3 win.  Ex-Reds Jorge Cantu (two homers and a double) and Cody Ross (also with two hits) provided most of the Marlins offense.  Reds rookie right-hander Johnny Cueto evened his record at 5-5 with a quality start.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an alternative to OPS.

Johnny Cueto got his fourth win of the year, dominating Braves hitters through six innings but running into a little trouble in the seventh, when he gave up back-to-back solo homers by Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann.  By that time, however, the Reds had built up a 3-0 lead on solo shots by Adam Dunn and Jay Bruce, and an RBI double by Brandon Phillips.  In the bottom of the seventh, the Reds scored three more runs, one of them on a suicide squeeze by Jerry Hairston Jr., and coasted to a 6-2 win.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an alternative to OPS.

The Cincinnati Reds broke their five game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Monday night.  It was a close game the entire game with the teams battling back and forth.  The Reds held off a Cubs rally in the ninth inning when the Cubs had the bases loaded with only one out, but the Reds were able to hold them off to pick up the win.

Johnny Cueto pitched six innings to pick up his second win of the season.  Cueto was throwing gas as he struckout eight batters while walking two others.  Cueto did give up a solo home run to Geovany Soto, but that was pretty much his only mistake of the game.

Francisco Cordero pitched a shaky ninth inning to pick up his fifth save of the season.  Cordero tagged out Mike Fonenot who tried to score on a ball that got away and then got Derrek Lee to groundout to first base to secure the save.

Adam Dunn smashed a two run home run in the third inning when the Reds went up 5-1.  The Reds got on the scoreboard in the first inning with a bases loaded walk and then a two run single by Jeff Keppinger.

The Reds are now 13-20 on the season.

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