Johnny Be Good Again. Cueto Stifles Washington 7-2

Johnny Cueto got a little rest in the middle of his six inning stint.

He drove in two runs in the Reds four run second inning but gave them back in the third.  After the Reds batted rain fell for 42 minutes.  Cueto regrouped and struck out the side in the fourth.

"The rain delay was good for me," Cueto said.  "I was struggling.  I was overthrowing.  I came in and threw 30 pitches during the delay.  I fixed my delivery."

Cueto did not pitch for 12 days because of the all-star break.

"It was good for me but I was a little strong," Cueto said.

"He's learning.  He's learning to back off and take the air out of the ball some," Dusty Baker said.  "He's winning while he's learning."

Jonny Gomes hit a home run off Washington starter, J.D. Martin.

With Scott Rolen nursing a hamstring injury, Miguel Cairo did a Rolen impression by crushing a 438 foot home run to end Martin's night.  Cairo added an RBI single in the eighth.

"He got a big two out hit and a monster home run.  He's been a Godsend to this team.  He's a baseball player.  He's fundamentally sound and does things correct most of the time."

"There's only one Scott Rolen," Cairo said.  "I just got to do my job.  We've got to be ready to play," Cairo said.

Earlier this year he filled in for Joey Votto at firstbase and the Reds kept winning.  Cairo has played on championship teams with St. Louis, the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies last year.

"I've been doing this a long time," Cairo said.  "You have to come in everyday expecting to play.  If you're not in the lineup, you have to be ready to pinch hit or do the little things to help the team win."

Drew Stubbs continues to drive in runs in spite of a subpar batting average.  He laced a two run double in the Reds second inning to start the scoring.  Stubbs has 48 RBI hitting mainly from the seventh slot in the lineup. He had three hits on the night to push his average above the .250 mark (.251).

Cueto improved to 9-2.  He has won his last three decisions and allowed just five earned runs over his last six starts.


Logan Ondrusek, who has not allowed a run in his last 13 appearances (14 1/3 innings), Nick Masset and Francisco Cordero finished the game.  Masset has a 2.67 ERA in his last 34 appearances (9er-30 1/3 innings).