Reds-Pirates: Two Outta Three Ain't Bad

What more can you say about Johnny Cueto? The kid seems to get better with every start. Cueto went eight innings, gave up only four hits, walked one batter, and struck out nine Pirates in the Reds' 5-0 victory. His shut-out performance drops his ERA to 1.65 and places the Reds at the top of the shut-out leader board with five.

Arthur Rhodes came through, yet again, in the ninth. Rhodes threw eight pitches and eight strikes. His ERA is 0.00.

Ramon Hernandez, despite being the world’s slowest base-runner, had a very successful day at the plate: 2-3 with a walk and three RBI.

Jay Bruce continues to lead the club in home runs. He slugged his sixth of the season to initiate the Reds scoring.

Brandon Phillips actually hit this afternoon: 2-4 with an RBI. Phillips’ box score numbers are deceiving though. I know, it’s just like a Reds fan to complain about a 2-4 performance, but that’s not my problem. My problem lies with his attitude. It’s the half-hearted hustle to first base, the “it’s all about me” stuff that kills me.

Stuff and things…

I’m watching Sunday Night Baseball right now. The White Sox are visiting the Rangers in Arlington, Texas (one gorgeous ballpark). Jon Miller calls a fantastic game. The Orioles and Peter Angelos were stupid for letting him go. A lot of people don’t like Joe Morgan and, sometimes, I can understand why. I like him for obvious reasons.

Moving on…

The Reds fly to Miami (and may already be there), where tomorrow they’ll play the first of two games to end the road trip. Aaron Harang (2-3, 3.09) pitches against Josh Johnson (2-0, 2.60), who has been one of the Marlins' young surprises in their solid rotation.

Hopefully the Reds can give Aaron Harang some run support tomorrow. Harang’s supporting cast has only averaged 2.0 runs per game for him, which is the same story as last season (2.5 runs per game on average).

To put that in perspective, the league average is 3.5 and Bronson Arroyo is getting 5.5 runs per game on average. That’s it for me with stats. That’s it for me period. Back to Sunday Night Baseball.

Before I go, I’m listening to Steve Phillips and Joe Morgan debate whether or not the Rangers should have traded Edinson Volquez for Josh Hamilton. Steve Phillips thinks they should have kept Volquez while Joe Morgan believes that good hitters are more valuable since they play every day. I think I have to side with Steve Phillips. He just reminded everyone that even though the Rangers had Josh Hamilton last year, they still finished last in the AL West. I think an Edinson Volquez is much more difficult to come by than a Josh Hamilton.