Reds baseball in 30 minutes or less

So, I figured in the 30 or so minutes I have left before I have to go to a "real" job where I make "real" money, I'd post a handful of musings and ramblings about last night's 3-2 rain-soaked victory over the Washington Nationals.

Johnny Cueto is positively brilliant. I cannot emphasize this strongly enough. This dude has been our best pitcher all season long, hands down. He's a joy to watch pitch and if the Reds can stay in contention all summer long, he's a legitimate Cy Young Award candidate; you heard it here first. The justification for the preceeding statement isn't necessarily rooted in his line last night, though it was more-than-strong, and it wasn't rooted in the number of strikeouts or the innumerable things he did well on the mound.

Instead, that statement is justified in the worst inning Cueto pitched last night, the first inning. The Nationals knocked two hits and drew a pair of walks off the Redlegs righty in the opening frame, and though a marvelous defensive play from Alex Gonzalez prevented the Nats from scoring, Cueto still was forced to throw 27 pitches and and battle the entire way.

During that inning, I began to have flashbacks to last season. A season ago Cueto was mighty suseptible to surrendering the big inning, and more often than not it was a direct result of walking guys and not pitching to contact. And even if Cueto dodged one bullet, it always seemed like he was in trouble again the very next inning.

The remarkable things that Johnny Cueto does, while still impressive, do not surprise me anymore because I've seen flashes of that brilliance for nearly two years. Rather, what I find most impressive is the maturation process Cueto has undergone to turn himself into a formidable starting pitcher in the offensive-rich National League Central Division.

After Cueto weasled his way out of the first inning last night he retired 10 straight hitters before giving up a fourth inning solo homerun to Elijiah Dukes, the only run Cueto would allow in his seven innings of work.

Cueto now has an ERA of 2.33 and may very well find himself making a trip to St. Louis for the All-Star game.

Speaking of All-Stars, after Brandon Phillips suffered through a postively dismal month of April, he has been the Reds most consistent batter, with the exception of Joey Votto who we may not see again for quite some time.

Phillips struck again last night.

A two-run double down the right field line in the fifth inning proved to be the game winner for the Reds. Phillips looked awful against Nats lefty Ross Detwiller to that point. But, when Detwiller tried to fool Phillips with a fastball on the outer-half, the Reds second baseman shot it neatly down the right field line giving the Reds a lead they would not relinquish.

It's so good to see Phillips get basehits to the opposite field, it's evidence that he's not trying to do too much at the plate.

There's an old saying in the game of baseball, "Momentum is only as good as the next day's starting pitcher," and we're sending out Aaron Harang tonight to oppose the Nationals. I wrote last week that Harang didn't pitch all that well during his last start despite a strong line.

I have a hunch he's going to go out and toss a gem tonight.