Johnny Cueto's 2011 debut for the Cincinnati Reds

CHICAGO -- Johnny Cueto was in midseason form. His 2011 debut for the Cincinnati Reds showed that his arm was sound and his stuff was good.And now the defending NL Central champs have their starting rotation intact. Three days ago Homer Bailey came back from the disabled list. And on Sunday it was Cueto, who pitched into the seventh in a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs."That was a great outing by Cueto," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "Took him to his limit, I think. Cincinnati Reds Jerseys He was still throwing the ball well, but you have to remember that's his first outing.""He was awesome. He got out of that big bases loaded situation, Sam LeCure got out of a bases loaded situation and we had just enough offense to win," Baker added.Cueto began the season on the DL with irritation in his right biceps/triceps. He left Sunday's start after giving up Alfonso Soriano's leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh. During his 102-pitch outing, he walked one and struck out four.
Cueto, who was activated before Sunday's game, threw four rehab outings and that helped."I wanted to throw that many because it made me feel stronger," he said. "I felt strong. I felt like I could have kept pitching."Drew Stubbs hit his sixth homer for the Reds, helping Cueto (1-0) win a pitcher's duel with Dempster.Four Reds' relievers completed the shutout. Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth for his sixth save in seven chances, one day after giving up two ninth-inning runs in a 3-2 loss.Once the Reds get third baseman Scott Rolen off the DL, Baker thinks they can start playing more like they planned. MLB Jerseys They took two of three in the series at Wrigley Field."This is a team that was slated to be the team," he said. "Other guys have done a good job for us in their absence, but these guys are my horses."One of those horses, first baseman Joey Votto, went 0 for 4 and had his season-opening string of reaching base stopped at 33 straight games, one shy of Dave Collins' modern club record set at the beginning of the 1981 season.Jay Bruce's single, an infield out and RBI single from Ramon Hernandez put the Reds up 1-0 in the second. Stubbs hit a two-out homer in the fifth, a line drive over the wall in left-center.
Dempster, the Cubs' opening day starter, had put together two straight solid starts after a shaky beginning."Anything is better than the way I was pitching," Dempster said. "I like the way I threw the ball. I didn't walk anybody."The Cubs loaded the bases in the seventh. MLB Jerseys From ChinaAfter Soriano's leadoff single finished Cueto,BOSS Shirt, LeCure plunked pinch-hitter Reed Johnson and walked Kosuke Fukudome with two outs before retiring Starlin Castro on a grounder to third.Chicago also threatened in the third when Dempster singled and made it to third on an error on shortstop Edgar Renteria, who made an errant flip to second after fielding Fukudome's grounder. But moments later, Dempster was tagged out trying to score on a grounder to third baseman Miguel Cairo. Marlon Byrd then reached on an infield single to load the bases before Aramis Ramirez flied out."If you start changing, you are going to struggle," Ramirez said. "You got to stick. That's what I told Carlos Pena today, just keep swinging, keep doing what you got to do and don't change anything."