Cincinnati, OH – Johnny Cueto tossed seven innings of one-run baseball to help the Cincinnati Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1, and complete a three-game sweep.
Cueto (12-5) gave up the one run on eight hits for the Reds, who have won four in a row. He had nine strikeouts and one walk while improving to 7-1 at home this year.
Brandon Phillips and Wilson Valdez both had an RBI in the third inning for Cincinnati, which went 8-2 on a 10-game homestand.
"It was great to start the homestand with a sweep against the Cardinals and we ended the homestand with a sweep," Reds manager Dusty Baker said.
Aramis Ramirez went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Brewers. Michael Fiers (3-4) allowed two runs -- one earned -- on five hits over six innings to take the loss.
The Brewers left the bases loaded in the first inning. Nyjer Morgan reached base on an infield single, Aramis Ramirez doubled and Corey Hart was intentionally walked to fill the bags with two outs. Cueto, though, settled down to strike out Rickie Weeks swinging.
"When you have a lot of opportunities and face a pitcher who doesn't give up many hits, you're not going to come through that often," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said.
Milwaukee was able to get on the board in the third. Norichika Aoki led off with a double down the left-field line and scored on Ramirez's single to right-center field.
But the Reds scored two runs in the bottom half to take the lead for good. Chris Heisey singled, stole second and raced home on Valdez's single to center. Valdez went all the way to third on Fiers' wild pickoff attempt, and Phillips' sacrifice fly made it a 2-1 game.
The Brewers stranded a runner on third in the fourth and seventh frames. Milwaukee then put runners on first and second with two outs in the eighth, but Cesar Izturis popped out to end the threat.
Aroldis Chapman worked around a two-out walk in the ninth to pick up his 17th save of the season.
Game Notes
The Reds have won seven of nine games between the teams in 2012...The Brewers went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11...Former Reds shortstop Barry Larkin was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.
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