Cincinnati Reds Beat White Sox 10-4 As Cueto Tosses Eight Strong Innings

4. 128. . 10. 61

It was a day of missed offensive opportunities early in the game, but the Cincinnati Reds played small ball and broke it open in the ninth to beat the White Sox 10-4 in the first game of a traditional doubleheader Saturday.

The Reds threatened in the first, but came away with no runs. They loaded the bases in the second inning, but Marlon Byrd grounded into a force out to end the inning. White Sox starting pitcher Hector Noesi left the game in the bottom of the second after a line drive by Billy Hamilton hit him in the side. Scott Carroll, former third round draft pick for the Reds in 2007, replaced Noesi and shut out the Reds until the sixth.

The Reds had a chance to score with a runner on third and less than two outs in both the third and the fourth. Both times they failed to get the runner across home plate.

In the third, Todd Frazier tried to score from third when Brandon Phillips hit a ground ball in front of the catcher, but White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu wasn’t fooled. In the fourth, Zack Cozart was thrown out at home by White Sox right fielder Avisail Garcia on a Skip Schumaker fly out.

The Reds finally broke through in the sixth when Jay Bruce led off with a single, Phillips reached via a force out and Brayan Pena singled to left. Cozart then reached via a force out, went to second on an error and scored on a Schumaker double. They played add-on with a run in the seventh on an RBI ground out from Bruce and seven runs in the ninth.

Johnny Cueto got off to a slow start, giving up a double and a walk in the first and a lead-off single in the second, but quickly settled down, retiring nine in a row at one point. It was a hot topic on Twitter as to why Bryan Price sent Cueto back out to pitch the ninth, especially after Cueto gave up three runs. He finished by giving up four runs on six hits and two walks in 8.1 innings. Two of those four runs were via solo home runs. Cueto did finish with seven strikeouts. J.J. Hoover came in to get the final two outs of the game.

Other Notes:

With his three-run home run in the ninth, Byrd now has four home runs in the last seven games. It’s good to see after his horrible month of April.
Kristopher Negron played first base because Joey Votto‘s one-game suspension, and he looked like he’s played there many times. In the first inning, Negron had two good catches in foul territory, one being a basket catch near the wall and the other leaning over the dugout to make the inning-ending catch.
The Reds continued their domination on the base paths with three more stolen bases. They are now 36-for-38 on the season.

Up Next: Let’s play two, as the Reds meet the White Sox again at 8:20 ET as a result of the rained out game Friday. Jason Marquis gets the start in the nightcap, while Chicago’s top prospect Carlos Rodon makes his first major league start.

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