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Cincinnati
Reds starting pitcher Johnny Cueto (47) leaves
the mound with an unknown injury as
manager Dusty Baker, center rear,
talks with catcher Devin Mesoraco and home plate umpire
Scott Barry,
right, in the second inning against the Texas Rangers, Friday, in
Arlington.
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Cueto injured, while offense again comes up
empty
Righty suffers
tight right lat muscle; Reds scoreless in past 22 innings
reds.com
ARLINGTON -- Triple-digit temperatures and high humidity haven't caused
hallucinations. The Reds are indeed in the midst of a Texas-sized funk
that was compounded on Friday by the loss of their ace for the third
time this season.
As Johnny Cueto went down with an injury in the second inning, the Reds
lineup stayed down for a 4-0 loss to the Rangers. That made it
back-to-back shutout losses for Cincinnati, which has a season-high
scoreless streak of 22 innings. It's the longest for the team since
July 9-16, 2010.
The Reds have lost six of their last seven games and are 1-5 with two
games left on an eight-game road trip.
"It seems like we can't buy a run for anything right now," Reds manager
Dusty Baker said.
The Rangers, who have back-to-back shutout wins, certainly aren't in a
giving mood. Right-hander Martin Perez, called up last week from
Triple-A, gave up six hits over 6 2/3 innings while his bullpen took
care of the rest.
It's not like there weren't chances, however. The Reds were 0-for-10
with runners in scoring position.
"We're just not doing anything," said shortstop Zack Cozart, who had
two hits, including a leadoff double in the eighth. "It seems like
we're not putting any at-bats together. We'll get a hit and just have
some easy outs. The next inning, we'll have a hit and the same thing
happens. When you play 162 games, you're going to go through stuff like
this."
Cueto gave up Adrian Beltre's broken-bat RBI single with two outs in
the first to fall into a 1-0 hole. Trouble emerged during his first
batter, four pitches into the bottom of the second. During a 1-2 pitch
to Mitch Moreland, Cueto grimaced in pain and could not continue.
Head trainer Paul Lessard and manager Dusty Baker visited Cueto, who
was immediately lifted and later diagnosed with tightness in his right
lat muscle. It's an injury similar to the one that has already put him
on the disabled list twice this season. Cueto will return to Cincinnati
to see the doctor on Saturday.
"It is discouraging for him, and us," Baker said. "We'll just have to
go back to the drawing board."
For the rest of this article and more, click here
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