Who's Johnny?

See what happens when you don't try and strike everyone out, Mr. Cueto? You throw an absolute gem which helped clinch a winning road trip for the Reds.

What was more encouraging... that he lasted seven innings and only threw 108 pitches? That he didn't issue a single walk? That he retired the last seven batters he faced? That he didn't allow a runner past 2nd base? That he matched a career-high by inducing 11 ground-balls outs? Or what about his prowess at the plate, matching his career hit total (two) coming into tonight?

Sure, all of that is fine and dandy... but how 'bout the fact that he only struck out three batters. Yes, that's a good thing. He only did it (record less than 3 K in a game) ONCE last season after the All-Star break. And tonight, he looked like a pitcher instead of a thrower. He also threw first-pitch strikes to 15 of the 26 batters he faced.

David Weathers still scares the pants off me every 8th inning whether he gets into a jam or not... but he still hasn't allowed an earned run this season so maybe I should just shut up about it. He also endears himself to me with quotes like this: "I think the good thing about it is nobody is shocked. We expected this out of ourselves. I expect us to come out and take this series tomorrow and have a 7-3 road trip."

Speaking of tomorrow, Aaron Harang might wanna think about beating the Cubs sometime soon. Last season versus Chicago he was 0-3 with a 6.29 ERA in four starts.

Kudos also to Coco Cordero, who tonight became 11th pitcher in big league history to record 100 saves in both the American and National Leagues.

Random hysterical link of the night: At least Darren O'Day was wearing SOMEONE ELSE'S jersey when he gave up the game-winning hit...