Rare Daytime Loss For Johnny Cueto

Johnny Cueto was 11-0 in daytime games this season.  He was facing a Phillies team that is out of the race for the first time in five years.  The Phillies were starting a winless rookie pitcher.

The best pitcher in the league with 17 wins and a NL leading ERA of 2.48 was cruising through the first four and 2/3 innings, staked to a lead by the red hot Jay Bruce's 30th home run.  The game was in the bag.

Until it leaked through the wet paper sack.

With two outs and the bases empty, rookie catcher Steven Lerud singled.  Rookie hurler Tyler Cloyd, pitching in his second major league game singled up the middle.  Cueto tried to clean his spikes, clogged with mud before delivering his first pitch to Jimmy Rollins.  He should have had the mound fixed.  Rollins deposited his high change up into the grandstands behind Bruce in rightfield.  Just like that the lead slipped away.

"It was slippery on the pitch before (Cloyd's first major league hit).  When it rains you expect that.  It's no excuse," Cueto said through translator Tomas Vera.  "Everytime we talk on the bench the one out you want to get is the pitcher.   You never want to give up runs with two outs.  I made a bad pitch.  One or two bad pitches is all it took."

The Reds meanwhile were trying to gauge Cloyd.

"It's my opinion the pitcher has the advantage the first time you see him," Dusty Baker said.  "You can watch all the video you want but you don't really get to know what it's like until you face them.  He had a quirky elbow thing that we knew about but you really have to see it."

Cloyd also pitched like he knew what he was doing.

The 25-year old righthander was the International League's Most Valuable Pitcher this past season.  He was 3-0 with Double A Reading and advanced to Triple A Lehigh Valley for the Phillies and was 12-1 there, starting the Triple A All-Star game for the IL.

"He knows how to pitch," Baker said.  "He mixed his pitches.  He threw a lot of pitches inside.  Most of them were balls but it opened up the outside part of the plate.  He doesn't throw hard but he has good location and movement."

John Mayberry Jr. hit a solo home run for the Phillies off Cueto in the sixth inning.

Cueto finished with seven innings, allowing eight hits (four in the fifth inning alone) and four earned runs.

Bruce was struggling last month when Baker sat him for two games to get a mental break.  In the 21 games since Bruce has been phenomenal.

He hit the key three-run home run on Sunday to ignite the Reds' 5-3 comeback win over Houston.  He has hit home runs in back-to-back games nine times this season.  He has nine home runs in his last 21 games, batting .333 (27-81) with 22 RBI.  He's had a lot of clutch hits in spite of his .238 batting average with runners in scoring position. Of his 88 RBI this season, 32 have given the Reds a lead during a tie game.

"He's not satisfied," Baker said.  "I've talked to him several times.  He's not satisfied and shouldn't be until his career is over.  When you hit a lot of home runs, you're going to get a lot of RBI."

Notes:

OF Denis Phipps walked in his major league debut as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the eighth.....Joey Votto was 0-for-3 in his last rehab game in Louisville against Indianapolis.  The minor league season has ended.  Votto was 1-for-6 in two rehab starts for Louisville, including a home run.  He was 1-for-5 in three rehab starts for Dayton.  "I am not concerned with how he does but how he feels," Baker said.  "I told him just to see a lot of pitches so he could get his hands and eyes together to gauge pitches."....Ryan Ludwick has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games with four multi-hit games....Todd Frazier has reached base in 26 straight games.