Reds ace Johnny Cueto’s goal of reaching 20 victories was still alive, but that was secondary to just having a good start. A loser of three straight starts coming in, Cueto pitched six scoreless innings for his 18th victory as the Reds earned a 5-3 win for a series sweep over the Cubs.
“I was more relaxed,” Cueto said through an interpreter. “I was concentrating more today and used the fastball more today. I felt good, like always. I always feel good.”
Cincinnati became the first team in baseball to clinch a Wild Card playoff berth and lowered its magic number to clinch the National League Central to two after the Cardinals swept the Astros.
At 91-59, the Reds are 32 games over .500 for the first time since 1999, and they can clinch the division with a win over the Dodgers on Friday, combined with a Cardinals loss to the Cubs.
Cueto — who gave up five hits with four walks and struck out a pair to reach a new career high for a season with 159 K’s — likely had lost his bid for a NL Cy Young Award by going 0-3 with an 8.22 ERA in his previous three starts. The win improved his record to 18-9 with a 2.84 ERA over a career-high 203 innings. He is tied for second in the league in wins and fourth in ERA.
There was danger to dodge on a few occasions vs. Chicago for Cueto. He allowed two hits and two walks and, even after a successful pickoff, loaded the bases during a 27-pitch second inning. In the fourth, after giving up Starlin Castro’s leadoff triple, Cueto still kept Chicago off of the scoreboard.
“I don’t think that was the best stuff he’s ever had,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “You could tell he might be getting a little tired at the end of the year. I’ve seen him with better stuff.”
With the game in a scoreless tie in the fourth, acting manager Chris Speier refused to concede the early run and played his infield in. Cueto got Luis Valbuena to ground out to second base and Welington Castillo to hit a shallow fly to left field. After a two-out walk, Cueto got pitcher Jason Berken to ground out.
“I gambled a little bit with a tie score and played the infield in,” said Speier, who was standing in for the ailing Dusty Baker. “With Johnny, we haven’t scored a lot with him. I didn’t want to give them any opportunity to get any runs. We loved that Johnny pitched his way out of it.”
Using a lineup of mainly bench players and September callups, while regulars were rested, the Reds were held scoreless for six innings with only two hits against Berken. They struck out four times in the second — Ryan Hanigan reached on a wild pitch to prolong the inning — making Berken the fifth Cubs pitcher to achieve the feat.
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