Time for a recap of today’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Cincinnati 5
Pittsburgh 0
WP: Cueto (2-1)
LP: Karstens (1-1)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Johnny Cueto has been very good this season, but I’m not sure how much more dominant he can be than he was today. His pitches were hopping. Eight innings, four hits, no runs, 9 strikeouts, just one walk. Cueto’s ERA is down to 1.65 on the season. Gotta love this youngster.
–Long homer by Jay Bruce, and he continues to look good at the plate. He should be hitting cleanup in this lineup.
–Ramon Hernandez’s bat continues to heat up. He had a couple of hits, and cleared the bases on a single (before getting thrown out trying to advance to 2nd; he is sloooooooooow). Hernandez’s defense leaves a lot to be desired, as we knew it would, but with every hit he is making us forget Paul Bako. And that’s a good thing.
–Arthur Rhodes pitched another perfect inning. He has been simply dominant this year.
NEGATIVES
–Johnny Cueto is terrible. He can’t hit AT ALL. Just a disaster at the plate.*
ETC.
–Another series win on the road. Now off to Florida, for a two-game series against the slumping Marlins.
–It’s a good thing Chris Dickerson can take a walk, because he looks overmatched pretty much every single time he takes the bat off his shoulder. I keep telling myself that he isn’t this bad, but he just doesn’t look comfortable up there. At least he didn’t screw up any plays in the field today.
–Want a laugh? Check out this Conan O’Brien skit that was referenced in the game thread. Hilarious take on old-timey baseball.
*Yes, that was tongue-in-cheek.