The Reds were all pulling for ace Johnny Cueto to finish his regular season with 20 victories on Sunday. On the other hand, postseason preparation carried more weight.
That meant there would be no moving heaven and earth, and no giving Cueto one more inning. He was finished after the seventh and trailing, so he didn’t benefit personally when the Reds scored two in the top of the ninth for a nice 4-3 win over the Pirates that took two of three in the series.
“That’s the fine line that you walk,” acting manager Chris Speier said. “There’s the big picture and then there’s the other picture. We were hoping to get both.”
The best outcome was that the 96-63 Reds moved back into a tie with the Nationals for the best record in baseball and a potential top seed in the postseason. Because Washington owns the head-to-head tiebreaker, the Reds need to finish the season on Wednesday one game up. They head next to St. Louis, where they can get both the top seed and have a chance to knock the Cardinals out of the second Wild Card spot.
The win also allowed the Reds to clinch home-field advantage for the first round of the playoffs, assuring them of no less than a No. 2 seed.
Cueto had to settle, if you can call it that, with a 19-9 record and 2.78 ERA in 33 starts and 217 innings. His ERA for the season was the lowest from a Reds pitcher since Jose Rijo in 1993.
“I feel good. I feel normal,” Cueto said through an interpreter. “God willing, I would have liked to get No. 20, but I have 19.”
In Cueto’s seven innings, only one of his three runs allowed was earned to go with six hits, one walk and six strikeouts. After an error by Joey Votto at first base to begin the third inning, Pittsburgh made it a 2-2 game on Garrett Jones’ two-run homer to right field.
In the fifth inning, Cueto gave up Alex Presley’s leadoff double down the right-field line. After a sacrifice, Andrew McCutchen rolled a single into left field that gave the Pirates the lead. Cincinnati, which scored its first two runs in the top of the third against Wandy Rodriguez, had 11 in a row retired and couldn’t add on.
Cueto finished by retiring his last eight batters. His pitch count was only at 98 when Speier and pitching coach Bryan Price decided it was enough. Cueto is scheduled to pitch Game 1 of the National League Division Series on either Saturday or Sunday vs. a yet-to-be-determined opponent.
“I wanted to finish strong. I had a lot to keep going, but it was the manager’s decision,” Cueto said. “I only had [98] pitches and he decided to take me out, and that was it.”
Before Cueto had a chance to take the mound, the game was officially delayed for four minutes by intensifying rains with one out in the top of the first. Umpiring crew chief Angel Hernandez waved everyone off the field, and the grounds crew began to drag tarps into position, but after conferring, the game continued as the sun broke through.
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