Cincinnati @ Cleveland preview
Progressive Field
Last Meeting ( May 21, 2010 ) Cincinnati 7, Cleveland 4
It has taken longer than expected, but Johnny Cueto might be starting to cash in on the immense potential he flashed as a rookie in 2008. The same goes for Fausto Carmona.
Two maturing right-handers with tremendous talent will meet Saturday at Progressive Field on teams heading in opposite directions. The Cincinnati Reds continue to battle the St. Louis Cardinals for first place in the NL Central, while the Indians continue fighting the Kansas City Royals to stay out of the basement in the AL Central.
Cleveland enters Saturday night as one of five teams in baseball that are at least 10 games under .500, but that isn’t Carmona’s fault.
Carmona is proving he is all the way back from a woeful 2009 campaign. He has allowed more than three runs in a start just once this season, and he’s allowed a total of four runs over his last three starts. But he has just one victory during that stretch thanks to Cleveland’s anemic offense.
It’s quite a change from a year ago, when Carmona was optioned to the Rookie League to work on his mechanics and mental approach. He ended last season 5-12 with a 6.32 ERA, but seems to have settled back into the pitcher who finished fourth in the AL Cy Young Award voting in 2007.
Shin-Soo Choo homered twice Friday against the Reds, but the last four spots in the Indians' lineup went a combined 0-for-13, continuing a season-long funk of futility.
That’s the exact opposite of the Reds, whose 49 homers rank in the top five in the National League. Cueto has enjoyed the offensive outbursts in his renaissance season.
Cueto had 18 strikeouts and a 2.02 ERA after his first two major league starts in 2008. He has spent the better part of the last two seasons trying to get back to that level of dominance.
He began this season with a career mark of 20-25, but has won three straight decisions and pitched extremely well most of the season.
Since allowing five runs in his only loss of the season on April 24, Cueto has allowed six runs in 27 innings over his last four starts. Included in that is a complete game, one-hit shutout at Pittsburgh on May 11. Cueto has struck out 40 this year and walked only 13.