WASHINGTON (AP) – Johnny Cueto pitched a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts, Joey Votto homered and drove in three runs and the Reds beat Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals 5-0 Tuesday night.
The potential pitching duel between Cueto and Scherzer never materialized. Cueto kept up his end — retiring the final 15 batters in his first complete game of the year — but Scherzer struggled from the outset.
One day after being named to the NL All-Star team, Scherzer (9-7) gave up five runs and seven hits in 4 2-3 innings, his shortest outing in more than a year. The five runs were more than the right-hander allowed in his previous four games combined, a stretch that included a no-hitter and a one-hitter.
Votto was the main culprit. He doubled in a run in the first inning, hit a solo homer in the third and added an RBI single in the fifth.