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Joey Votto pounds his way to 7 homers.

So Many Doubts -- (5/11) -- The hoopla over Johnny Cueto may now be waning. Sunday afternoon, in the setting twilight of forgettable Shea Stadium, the Reds' 22 year years young (specific age?) Dominican hurler faced a grim MLB reality as the Mets pounded eight hits (five extra bases) and six runs over 4 2/3 innings before 50,000 Big Apple fans who mouth bemoanment to the fall of Shea but anxiously await the opening of much fancier digs for 2009. Carlos Beltran had an RBI double and a two run homer in the Mets' 8-3 victory. Cincinnati is in last place in the NL Central at 15-23. The Mets had pounded the Reds 12-6 in Saturday's rainout makeup behind 5 Beltran RBI's and a pounding of Reds pitchers Matt Belisle, Bill Bray and Mike Lincoln before the Reds salvaged a nightcap win  7-1 surfing Bronson Arroyo's long awaited eight inning, one run and nine strikeout gem. Arroyo still sits with a 7.14 ERA for the year. Jeff Keppinger went 5-5 and is batting .317 while veteran catching addition Paul Bako had two hits and two RBI, lifting his average to .319. Pound Salt --  Even in misery there must be glory,and that happened Wednesday night (5/7) as the Reds jettisoned their frustration 9-0 on the Chicago Cubs. Edinson Volquez pitched 7 innings of 10 strikeout no run ball to move to 5-1. One win does little for the standings (now 15-23 through 5/11) but much for the stats. Volquez is in the midst of a Cy Young season were he on a winner, with 52 k's in 42 innings, 5-1 in 7 starts a 1.06 ERA and only 1 HR allowed. Joey Votto was 3-4 with 3 runs and 4 RBI on 3 home runs. He now has 7 homers and 19 RBI on the year, which at this point would translate roughly into a 40 HR 105 RBI season.  Adam Dunn and Brandon Phillips each hit their 6th dingers, and Jerry Hairston, Jr popped his first while playing SS and still hitting .345. The Reds were off Thursday and rained out Friday.

Adam Dunn belts the struggling Reds to a rare win.

Doom Redeemed -- (5/5) -- Johnny Cueto and Adam Dunn pulled Cincinnati out of the deep doldrums Monday night with a 5-3 victory over Dusty Baker's former Chicago Cub squad. The Reds gave young phenom Cueto a 5-1 cushion through four innings. Closer Francisco Cordero escaped a dangerous bases loaded ninth for his fifth save. All 5 Reds runs were unearned as to Cubs starter Ryan Dempster, who also had under a 1.00 WHIP and 7 K's through six innings. The great fantasy stats equated only to a loss for Dempster, however, as errors by Mike Fontenot and Mark DeRosa allowed Reds rallies to continue, culminating in Adam Dunn's third inning two run bomb, his fifth. Dunn was still just 1-4 with 2K's and 3 runners LOB, but at least for once his production was instrumental in a win. Geovany Soto of the Cubs continued his amazing year at catcher, going 3-3 with his 6th homer. Soto carried a .333 BA and .430 OBA into the game and improved on both, but he was essentially the sole offensive highlight for Chicago.The Reds snapped a five game losing streak and stand at a disappointing 13-20. Pitching by Numbers -- Cueto won Monday for just his first time in five starts. He struck out 8 to give him 41 K's in 41 innings, and he's walked only nine. The great K/BB ratio belies an unhealthy 5.27 ERA for Cueto, though, which we hope will improve with innings eaten in the weeks to come. The truly outrageous pitching stats belong to Aaron Harang. The Reds' ace has 41 K's as well, and only 11 BB in 48 innings. Harang's ERA is an impressive 2.98 but low run support leaves him at a surprising 1-4. Meanwhile, Texas transfer Edinson Volquez mirrors over to 4-1 and bosts a miniscule 1.27 ERA with 42 K's in 35 innings. Do you see a trend here?!? The Reds are not walking batters, but the over the plate strikeout mentality may also be unwittingly playing into the dismal 13-20 start as Bronson Arroyo contributes an 8.63 ERA while having close to a 3/1 K/BB ratio. Volquez and Harang are obviously the stars and Cueto has generally held his own, but the anemic offense at times has killed them in run support despite some modest and even impressive personal offensive numbers, such as OBAs -- Keppinger .343,  Encarnacion .369, Dunn .371, Bako .382, Freel .357 and Hairston .360.  The main on base disappointment is Corey Patterson (.263), but he's contributed 4 homers, 5 steals and 15 runs. Whence the problem, fans? It just looks like the Reds have some good NL fantasy players, but not much actual chance. The current 13-20 mark may represent too big of a hole in a season that is increasingly losing its youth. 

Tags: baseball, cincinnati reds, mlb