Cueto starts the Reds turnaround

Johnny Cueto has won his last 3 starts. Cueto was all the Reds need him to be last night; solid but not spectacular. He struck out 8 hitters and walked 3 while allowing only 2 earned runs. We told you that the Reds were going to start something magical, and they looked the part as they pounded out 17 hits (3 of them belonging to Jay Bruce along with 3 RBI).

Adam Dunn struck out 4 times last night and the Reds held off a two-homer game from Jorge Cantu as they won in Florida 11-3. This win gave them 7 wins in a row against the Marlins dating back to last season.

The Reds' bullpen is slowly coming together with the likes of guys like Jared Burton, Gary Majewski, Billy Bray, Jeremy Affeldt and of course Coco Cordero and David Weathers.

Tonight it should get interesting. The Reds face a guy I wouldn't expect them to match up well against in Scott Olsen, while Bronson Arroyo totes the rubber for the Redlegs. Arroyo has been a mixed bag of sorts so far this year.

[Reds 11, Marlins 3]

Remember when Upton broke up Johnny Cueto's No-No?

And you've got to love the lone comment on the video:

i went to school with this dude (Upton), kid is a freak of nature, he can ball too he can jump high as hell he dunks like its nothing, all he did in high school in lifting class was use rubber bands to lift its nuts

Cueto Debut of the Century

[Liveblog]

[Box Score]

Johnny Cueto did something that has not been done since 1900. Cueto struck out 10 batters in his Major League debut, electrifying the crowd in Cincinnati by using a 92-96 MPH fastball along with a slider, cutter, and changeup. Cueto also became the first pitcher since 1997 to retire the first 15 batters he faced and only allowed one hit on the day in 7 innings. The one hit was a line drive home run by Justin Upton to the left field seats. The Reds used 4 pitchers to combine on a 1-hitter, and Francisco Cordero locked down the first save of his Reds career.

The Reds got a nice day from Jeff Keppinger, as Keppinger homered to give the Reds an early 3-0 lead. Adam Dunn was walked 3 times on the day and Brandon Phillips drove in Ken Griffey Jr. after a Griffey double.

I'll tell you what, I knew that this Cueto was going to be a name to know. I just didn't realize that he was going to come out and do this in his debut. He's only 22 years old. There is real reason to be excited about baseball if you follow the Cincinnati Reds. They have some legitimate young players and some very nice veterans. I don't think the central is that strong, I really don't.