Johnny Cueto hummed seven solid innings to hold a hot-hitting Brewers club to just two runs on five hits and give the Reds a 4-2 win at Great American Ball Park.
With the win, the Reds improved to 93-61 on the season and, coupled with a Nationals loss, they are now tied for the best record in the National League with eight games remaining.
“It’s nothing we can worry about, especially day in, day out like that,” said Jay Bruce, who scored once in the second and knocked an RBI double, along with Joey Votto, in the fifth. “We just have to play baseball. We’ve played well all year, and we’re going to continue to play well and try to win these games and expect to win. Washington has a good team, and so do we, so we’ll see what happens.”
It was Cueto’s 19th win of the season, making him the first Reds pitcher to reach that plateau since southpaw Danny Jackson in 1988, and the first righty to do so since Reds Hall of Famer Jack Billingham in 1974.
Cueto, now 19-9, has one more outing slated for Sunday at Pittsburgh. He is 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA against the Pirates this season and will take the mound in search of win No. 20.
“That’s the goal I want,” Cueto said of a 20-win season. “God willing, I will get that one, because that’s my goal. If I keep pitching and working like I am now, I should be OK. Thank God, those bad games are way behind me.”
The victory marked back-to-back wins for Cueto, who had Reds fans worried after three consecutive losses to start the month.
But Cueto looked like his old self again, as he tossed 64 of his 95 pitches for strikes while fanning five and walking none.
“Right now it felt like the first time out,” Cueto said through his translator. “I was checking video and noticed the problems I was having, and I was able to correct them. Now I feel like I’m back to normal.”
The only damage allowed by Cueto was a fifth-inning RBI single from Jean Segura to plate Carlos Gomez, and a 429-foot blast from Aramis Ramirez in the seventh.
The Brewers have scored the most runs (119) in the National League in September and hadn’t lost back-to-back games since Aug. 18-19.
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