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Sixteen for Cueto

Johnny Cueto allowed a two-run homer to Alfonso Soriano in the first inning, they shutout the Cubs for the next seven as the Reds came back to win the game 5-3. Cueto was in control, walking none and striking out eight as he takes the NL lead in wins with 16. Johnny has now pitched 12 2/3 more innings than last season, and walked ten fewer batters.

The Reds have become my favorite to win the World Series. They lost one of the best hitters in the league when Joey Votto went down with an injury in the middle of July. Since then, the team is 23-9, the best record in the majors (pending the outcome of game two of the double header). If they play this well without Votto, I suspect they’ll be better when they get him back.

Soriano’s two RBI today gives him 1000 for his career.

Johnny Cueto bests Cubs for NL-leading 16th win

Johnny Cueto continued to bolster his case for the National League Cy Young award this afternoon against the Cubs, giving up two runs over eight innings as part of a 5-3 victory in the first game of a doubleheader. Cueto is now the National League’s first 16-game winner. David Price of the Rays got there [...]

NL Central Notes: Cubs, Castro, Reds, Baker

A look at news on Reds and the Cubs..

Starlin Castro‘s agent, Paul Kinzer, told Fred Mitchell of the Chicago Tribune that he planned on tabling contract talks until after the season until the Cubs approached him. The two sides are working on a new deal that would keep him in Chicago through 2018 and possibly beyond.
Manager Dusty Baker and the Reds still have yet to have talks about a contract extension and Baker says that he doesn’t expect to do so anytime soon, writes John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Meanhwile, team president Bob Castellini told Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com that he hopes to have Baker as a part of the Reds organization for a long time. Castellini wouldn’t tip his cap as to when contract talks could get started between the two sides but indicated that the timing would likely be agreed upon mutually.
Castro has instructed Kinzer not to give him updates on the negotiations and to only notify him when a deal is done, tweets Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago.com.

Matt Harvey is dominant. Frank Francisco is drunk?

The Mets are playing out the string at this point, but at least they’re keeping things interesting. Matt Harvey limited the Reds to one run in 7 2/3 innings and struck out eight in the Mets’ 8-4 win on Thursday. He also had a two-run double off Homer Bailey in the contest. Frank Francisco put…

Harvey in Sync

In his first four starts, Matt Harvey of the Mets either allowed a low number of walks or a low number of hits. Thursday night against the Reds, Matt put both those together as he allowed four hits and one walk in 7 2/3 innings, striking out eight. He allowed just one run as the Mets win 8-4. Opponents are now hitting just .191 against Matt in his five starts. Harvey, R.A. Dickey, and a healthy Johan Santana could give the Mets a formidable rotation in 2013.

Taking Dickey Deep

Mike Leake out-pitches R.A. Dickey as the Reds hit three home runs off the Mets ace in a 6-1 Cincinnati victory. Dickey allowed 13 home runs in 24 games coming into today, and allowed more than one in a game only one other time this season. Atlanta hit three against him on April 18.

Leake went the distance, throwing just 111 pitches as he allowed just four hits without a walk. The Mets put the ball in play as they only struck out four times, but they could just not manage much offense.

The Reds are the all-streak team in August. They won their first four games of the month, then lost five in a row, and have now won five in a row. With Pittsburgh losing big to the Dodgers, the Reds could have a seven game lead in the NL Central by the end of the night.

And That Happened: Tuesday’s scores and highlights

It was shutout Tuesday, apparently. Let’s tally the goose eggs: Yankees 3, Rangers 0: Hiroki Kuroda with the two-hit shutout. He was masterful, but man, there were a lot of ill-advised Texas swings in the parts of this one I watched. Either Kuroda had them more fooled than someone on the foolingest day of his life [...]

And That Happened: Tuesday’s scores and highlights

It was shutout Tuesday, apparently. Let’s tally the goose eggs: Yankees 3, Rangers 0: Hiroki Kuroda with the two-hit shutout. He was masterful, but man, there were a lot of ill-advised Texas swings in the parts of this one I watched. Either Kuroda had them more fooled than someone on the foolingest day of his life [...]

Fourth Shutout

Jay Bruce breaks a scoreless tie between the Mets and the Reds with a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth, and the Reds walk off with a 3-0 shutout. Mat Latos lasted seven innings for the short shutout, and Jose Arredondo gets the win with an inning of shutout ball. It seems, however, that Bruce should get the credit for the win. It’s the fourth shutout of the night in the majors.

Johnny Cueto bolsters Cy Young case with eight scoreless innings

Reds right-hander Johnny Cueto didn’t make the NL All-Star team, but he might well be the league’s Cy Young Award winner this season. Cueto threw eight innings of three-hit ball and combined with Aroldis Chapman on a shutout of the Cubs on Sunday, giving him his 15th victory of the season. Cueto is now tied…

Johnny Cueto bolsters Cy Young case with eight scoreless innings

Reds right-hander Johnny Cueto didn’t make the NL All-Star team, but he might well be the league’s Cy Young Award winner this season. Cueto threw eight innings of three-hit ball and combined with Aroldis Chapman on a shutout of the Cubs on Sunday, giving him his 15th victory of the season. Cueto is now tied…

Why Isn’t Billy Hamilton Up?

Billy Hamilton, a AA prospect for the Reds stole 136 bases so far this season. He’s been caught 30 times. In 2011-2012 combined, he stole 239 bases, getting caught 50 times. In general, I don’t care that much about stolen bases, but in order to steal that many bases, a player needs to be on base a lot. Hamilton posted an OBP of .340 in 2011 at A ball, an OBP of .408 this year between A+ and AA, equally as good at both levels. While everyone loves Hamilton for the steals, he’s more that just a fast runner. He has good plate discipline, and it took a big step forward this season as he drew 72 walks so far in 521 PA.

Now look at the composite batting order for the Reds. Their lead-off hitters do a terrible job of getting on base. In fact, the team OBP of .317 is pretty weak.

The Reds have a chance to bring up a young man who would likely improve the team OBP, and likely give the power in the middle of the lineup more RBI opportunities. He can put himself in scoring position with steals, or score easily from first on most doubles. I suspect the Reds don’t want to start the arbitration clock, and by waiting to make him a September call up, they prevent that. Given that they have a somewhat comfortable lead in the NL Central right now, they may be able to wait. The could also slip behind the Pirates or Cardinals by September 1.

On the other hand, the Reds should be able to use Hamilton in the playoffs, so they could go into the post season with a much better team than they own right now.

Alfonso Soriano says Starlin Castro needs to “concentrate more on the game”

Starlin Castro wasn’t the only member of the Cubs who made mistakes in yesterday’s loss to the Reds at Wrigley Field. In fact, the Cubs committed five errors for the first time since 2006. But the 22-year-old was the focus after the game. Castro, who has a history of mental lapses, committed a fielding error…

No Votto of Confidence

Joey Votto needs more time to recover from his injury:

Joey Votto (left knee) returned to Cincinnati on Friday and had a minor procedure last night to remove a piece of floating cartilage, Reds trainer Paul Lessard said.

It could add 7-to-10 days to Votto’s recovery time, Lessard said. The original projection was 3-to-4 weeks from the date of Votto’s surgery July 17, for a torn medial meniscus.

Essentially, this means the Reds’ franchise player could be out into late August. Lessard said that remains to be seen.

The Reds have played well without their star, but they would love to go into the stretch with his bat in the lineup.

Joey Votto undergoes “minor procedure” after setback with surgically-repaired knee

The Reds were originally hoping that Joey Votto would only have to miss three to four weeks following surgery on July 17 to repair a torn medial meniscus in his left knee, but that won’t be the case. According to Tom Groeschen of the Cincinnati Enquirer, returned to Cincinnati last night and had a “minor…

Quick Hits: Padres, Cubs, Bourn, Sheets, Braves

Earlier today, the Indians released right-hander Derek Lowe after designating him for assignment earlier this month. The veteran is willing to start or relieve and there’s reportedly a sense that he’ll return to the National League. While we keep an eye on where the veteran might land, here’s tonight’s look around baseball..

As first reported by Jim Callis of Baseball America, Padres scouting director Jaron Madison is leaving the organization to join the Cubs. The 36-year-old will take over as Chicago’s scouting director while Tim Wilken has been reassigned to the role of Special Assistant to president Theo Epstein, tweets David Kaplan of CSNChicago.com.
One Braves official believes that if Michael Bourn had an agent other than Scott Boras, the slugger might already have a new contract with the club, writes Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. People who know Nationals GM Mike Rizzo believe that Bourn has always been at the top of his wish list and the Phillies, Reds, and Marlins are also potential suitors this winter.
Ben Sheets wasn’t entirely confident about his return to the big leagues, but the veteran has looked tremendous so far, Knobler writes. The 34-year-old isn’t sure how long he’ll continue pitching but he says that he wants to leave on his own terms as opposed to being forced out by injury.

Cubs hit new low, commit five errors in loss to Reds

The Cubs snapped their eight-game losing streak by beating the Reds on Thursday, but they returned to typical form Friday, committing five errors in a 10-8 loss to Cincinnati. Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro, Josh Vitters, Brett Jackson and Welington Castillo all had miscues on a very windy day at Wrigley Field. The Cubs had five…

Keep Your Eye on the Ball

Starlin Castro just got fooled on a single. He was on first, and as he approached second the Reds second baseman made it look like he had a play. Castro slowed down, stopped, then realized the ball wasn’t there and finally touched second. With no idea where the ball was, he started for third, but the ball had already been thrown back to the infield, and Castro was an easy out at third.

This does happen to players from time to time, but mental lapses like this seem to plague Starlin. The Reds lead the Cubs 8-3 in the bottom of the sixth.

Joey Votto: “I’m not ready to play yet”

Joey Votto is three weeks into what was initially a 3-4 week recovery timetable for knee surgery, but told John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer that his return isn’t imminent: I’m not ready to play yet. I’m moving in the right direction. I’m definitely not sure on a timetable. I’m not doing that to be coy,…

Starting to Miss Votto

The Reds did well without Joey Votto playing until recently. They dropped their fourth game in a row Wednesday afternoon, losing to the Brewers 3-2. In their last six games they’ve scored just 16 runs. With Votto not expected back until Aug. 14th, this gives the Pirates a bit of an opening to gain the NL Central.