Reds Get Good Pitching From Johnny Cueto But Suffer Another Tough Loss 4-3

Two young pitchers, developing into staff aces, hooked up in Tropicana Field on Monday.

Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto and Tampa Bay's David Price battled into the eighth innings.

Johnny Damon;s fourth inning home run was the only offense through seven innings.

Cueto allowed just two hits through seven innings.  Price struck out 10 batters through seven innings.

The action and drama began in the eighth inning.  Drew Stubbs tripled over the head of B.J. Upton in center field.  Edgar Renteria delivered Stubbs with a single to left to tie the game.  Price bowed his back to strike out Chris Heisey and Brandon Phillips swinging.  Price established a career high with 12 strikeouts.
Reigning MVP Joey Votto again showed why he won the award hitting an opposite field double to put the
Reds on top for the first time.  Votto's hit off lefthander, Price, wasn't a surprise considering his average against leftys was .375 at game time.

Cueto, who was sailing, appeared to hit a wall in the home half of the eighth.  Cueto fanned Upton to start the eighth but John Jaso singled to right for the Ray's third hit of the game.  Sam Fuld followed with a single to right but Cueto got Reid Brignac to fly out to Heisey in left.

Dusty Baker went with the percentages.  Bill Bray came on to face Damon with two outs and runners at first and second.   It was the right decision.  Cueto was running out of gas and Damon hit the home run off Cueto in the fourth.  Damon was hitting .250 against lefthanders and Bray faced 49 lefthanders, allowing just eight hits for a .163 record.

Bray got two quick strikes on Damon.  He teased with a ball off the plate.  Damon didn't bite.  Damon fouled off the next pitch then took ball two.  Bray made his pitch low and away just off the plate but close enough that Damon had to reach for it.  Damon lifted a flair to left center.  Stubbs, Renteria and Heisey chased it. The ball couldn't have been placed among them more perfectly for the Rays.  Heisey dove for the ball and nearly made the catch but with his full momentum approaching the ball, he deflected the ball toward right field.  By the time Phillips could retrieve the ball both runners scored.

Kyle Farnsworth was brought on to hold off the Reds in the ninth.  He went to a full count on Bruce leading off the ninth.   Bruce hit his 18th home run of the season and first since June 1 to tie the game.

Logan Ondrusek brought his excellent .163 ERA  into the game.  Tampa Bay star, Evan Longoria, led off.
Ondrusek got ahead with a strike.  His next pitch was meant to jam Longoria but it tailed back over the plate and Longoria hit the ball over the left field fence on a line to send the Reds off with a 41-40 record, exactly half way through the season.

It was the second tough loss on the road trip that ended with a game-ending home run by the opposing hitters.  Derrek Lee hit a 12th inning home run on Friday. 

The Reds stayed 3 1/2 games behind Milwaukee who lost 12-2 to the New York Yankees.  St. Louis beat Baltimore to move to withing two games of the Brewers.  Pittsburgh edged Toronto to pass the Reds and take over third place, three games off the pace.