CINCINNATI -- Those around Johnny Cueto on the Reds have long run out of superlatives to describe his performances after each start this season.Here's a suggestion for Thursday: historic.In a 5-0 Reds win over the Padres in Game 1 of a day-night doubleheader at Great American Ball Park, Cueto faced just two batters over the minimum for a three-hit shutout while walking two and striking out eight. It was his third complete game of the season, while he needed 116 pitches. 
Cueto now has six straight starts of eight innings or more. No one has done that in the big leagues since Cliff Lee ran off a streak of 10 in a row in 2010 and no Reds pitcher has achieved that since Mario Soto in 1983.Over his last 55 innings, Cueto has allowed only five runs to lower his Major League-leading ERA to 1.25 over a league-most 72 innings pitched.To find the last Major League pitcher to start a season with at least seven innings pitched and two runs or fewer allowed over his first nine starts, one has to look back to the dead-ball era. Harry Krause of the 1909 Philadelphia Athletics did it in 10 straight starts, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.No Reds pitcher has worked at least seven innings in their first nine starts since Bucky Walters began 1944 with 20 in a row.The game began when Cueto mishandled a Will Venable bouncer near the mound for a single. Venable was promptly erased when Everth Cabrera bounced into a double play. Cueto also induced a double play to end the top of the seventh.After the game was deadlocked scoreless through four innings, Brandon Phillips' three-run home run in the fifth gave Cueto plenty of breathing room.Padres starter Ian Kennedy, who had a 1.53 career ERA in four starts vs. the Reds with eight innings pitched in three of those games, gave up five runs and 11 hits over six innings. He was a worthy foe for Cueto in the early going, however.Kennedy sprayed four hits over his first four innings, but he never seemed to be in any real danger. Things changed in the Reds' fifth after a Zack Cozart leadoff single to center field. Skip Schumaker kept the inning going with a two-out single on the ground into right field.That set up Phillips, who pulled a 2-1 pitch into the left-field seats for the homer, his third of the season, for the three-run lead.In the sixth, following Ryan Ludwick's infield single and Brayan Pena's double, Cozart ended an 0-for-15 skid with runners in scoring position with a two-run single up the middle for a 5-0 lead. Every Reds starting position player had at least one hit in the game.Mark Sheldon / MLB.com
Cueto now has six straight starts of eight innings or more. No one has done that in the big leagues since Cliff Lee ran off a streak of 10 in a row in 2010 and no Reds pitcher has achieved that since Mario Soto in 1983.Over his last 55 innings, Cueto has allowed only five runs to lower his Major League-leading ERA to 1.25 over a league-most 72 innings pitched.To find the last Major League pitcher to start a season with at least seven innings pitched and two runs or fewer allowed over his first nine starts, one has to look back to the dead-ball era. Harry Krause of the 1909 Philadelphia Athletics did it in 10 straight starts, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.No Reds pitcher has worked at least seven innings in their first nine starts since Bucky Walters began 1944 with 20 in a row.The game began when Cueto mishandled a Will Venable bouncer near the mound for a single. Venable was promptly erased when Everth Cabrera bounced into a double play. Cueto also induced a double play to end the top of the seventh.After the game was deadlocked scoreless through four innings, Brandon Phillips' three-run home run in the fifth gave Cueto plenty of breathing room.Padres starter Ian Kennedy, who had a 1.53 career ERA in four starts vs. the Reds with eight innings pitched in three of those games, gave up five runs and 11 hits over six innings. He was a worthy foe for Cueto in the early going, however.Kennedy sprayed four hits over his first four innings, but he never seemed to be in any real danger. Things changed in the Reds' fifth after a Zack Cozart leadoff single to center field. Skip Schumaker kept the inning going with a two-out single on the ground into right field.That set up Phillips, who pulled a 2-1 pitch into the left-field seats for the homer, his third of the season, for the three-run lead.In the sixth, following Ryan Ludwick's infield single and Brayan Pena's double, Cozart ended an 0-for-15 skid with runners in scoring position with a two-run single up the middle for a 5-0 lead. Every Reds starting position player had at least one hit in the game.Mark Sheldon / MLB.com
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