Johnny Cueto tossed eight shutout innings and three players homered to carry the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-0 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday.
Joey Votto and Ramon Hernandez both hit blasts and drove in a pair of runs, Laynce Nix had two RBIs and Chris Heisey added a solo shot as the Reds took the first two of the three-game set.
Cueto (10-2) was in top form, allowing four hits and striking out six against one walk to earn his first win in eight starts against the Astros.
Jordan Smith preserved the shutout with a spotless ninth.
The Reds took a 6-0 lead through three innings off Houston ace Roy Oswalt, who has been the subject of rampant trade rumors. Votto and Hernandez went deep in the first and second, respectively, before the offense added a pair of runs an inning later.
Oswalt (6-12) was charged with six runs and nine hits in five innings of work.
Chris Johnson finished with two of Houston’s hits in the loss.
Cincinnati | Houston | |
Johnny Cueto | Player | Roy Oswalt |
Win | W/L | Loss |
8.0 | IP | 5.0 |
6 | Strikeouts | 3 |
4 | Hits | 9 |
0.00 | ERA | 10.80 |
Cincinnati | Houston | |
Laynce Nix | Player | Chris Johnson |
3 | Hits | 2 |
2 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
5 | TB | 2 |
1.000 | Avg | .667 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Cincinnati | 14 | 3 | 25 | .378 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Houston | 4 | 0 | 5 | .129 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |