Reds beat Nationals 3-2 to open series

By TheNaturalMevs on June 10, 2009

On the day that the Washington Nationals selected a kid who they hoped would be a phenomenal starting pitcher someday in the big leagues, they got to see in the flesh one who already is in Johnny Cueto.

Cueto, the ace of the Reds staff made his 12th start of the season. The Reds have wins in 8 of those starts now and Cueto is 6-2 on the season. This kid continues to be remarkably solid when he’s not spectacular. He worked out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the 1st inning and despite only striking out 4, the Nationals had a limited number of good swings off of him.

This game didn’t feature much offense. The Nationals got solo home runs from Elijah Dukes and Christian Guzman and nothing else. The Reds opened up scoring in the 2nd inning with a single from Jerry Hairston that scored Jay Bruce after a walk in his first at bat. The big hit of the game was a bases loaded double from Brandon Phillips that would put the Reds up 3-1 and would stand up as all they needed to hold onto the victory.

With losses from Milwaukee and St. Louis, the Reds are now once again in 2nd place and just 2 and 1/2 games out of first place. They’re 21-4 when they score first. Coco Cordero locked down save number 15 in 15 chances. Because of the pitching and despite the desperate offensive situations they find themselves in night after night, the Reds just might be able to stay in this thing.