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Cueto, Reds shut out Padres

Jun 8, 2015 - 4:01 AM Cincinnati, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Johnny Cueto struck out nine in seven scoreless innings, and Jay Bruce drove in all four Cincinnati runs in the Reds' 4-0 win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday.

Cueto (4-4) had to get out of trouble early but retired 13 of the last 14 he faced to help the Reds avert a sweep.

Bruce hit a pair of home runs, first giving Cincinnati a 1-0 lead early in the game and then adding insurance runs with a three-run shot for his first multi- home run game of the season and 16th of his career.

Odrisamer Despaigne (3-4) allowed all four Cincinnati runs on nine hits over six innings in defeat.

"He was victimized by a powerful hitter twice," said Padres manager Bud Black. "He was beat on two balls that were possibly above the zone."

Cueto walked a pair of batters in the first inning, and they were in scoring position with two outs when Cueto got Yonder Alonso to ground out to end the inning. An inning later, the Padres had two runners on when Despaigne couldn't lay down a sacrifice bunt to move them into scoring position, and Will Venable grounded out to end that threat.

In the bottom of the second, Bruce crushed a high fastball to deep right field to put the Reds up 1-0.

From there, Cueto cruised. After surrendering a two-out double to Matt Kemp in the third, Cueto was nearly untouchable, only yielding a double to Despaigne over the final four innings.

"Every team needs that guy to come out and play stopper," Bruce said of Cueto. "And he did today."

After Joey Votto singled and Todd Frazier doubled to open the sixth, Bruce got another high fastball from Despaigne and hit another out of the ballpark to extend Cincinnati's edge to four runs.

Cueto departed after seven innings, and J.J. Hoover and Aroldis Chapman each threw a perfect inning to wrap up the game.

Game Notes

San Diego has not swept a three-game series on the road since April 15-17, 2013 at Los Angeles ... Cincinnati catcher Brayan Pena's eighth-inning strikeout ended a streak of 44 straight plate appearances without a punchout ... Cincinnati catcher Devin Mesoraco is expected to begin a rehab assignment Monday as a left fielder on his way back from an injured hip ... San Diego is expected to activate outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. off the disabled list on Monday ... Cincinnati will host Philadelphia for three starting Monday after losing a series in Philadelphia last week, while San Diego will start a four- game set in Atlanta on Monday.