Padres Split Doubleheader In Cincinnati

Friars Start Road Trip With Series Win

What a difference three hours makes.

The Padres split a doubleheader with the Reds at the Great American Ballpark on Thursday. It looked like they brought two different teams to southern Ohio.

In the first game the Padres ran in to the hottest, and right now the best, pitcher in the Major Leagues. Johnny Cueto tossed a complete-game, 3-hit shutout in the Reds' 5-0 win. Cueto has made nine starts and already thrown three complete games. He's gone at least seven innings in every start and not allowed more than two runs in any of them.

The last pitcher to pull that off was Harry Krause of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1909 (three years before Earned Run Average even became an official statistic).

It was the 7th time the Padres have been shut out this season, but unlike past scoreless outings, this time it was not part of a prolonged slump.

In the night cap, the Padres won 6-1 and got some offense from guys who have provided very little (if any) in 2014.

Catcher Rene Rivera continued to swing the bat well, hitting his second home run of the season. After that, the Padres got homers from shortstop Everth Cabrera and 1st baseman Yonder Alonso, the first of the year for both.

Alonso finally snapped a ridiculous homerless string. Yonder had not gone deep since May 19 of last year. He missed several games after being hit on the hand by a pitch, but still managed to set a Padres franchise record for most at-bats by a 1st baseman without a home run.

All that was plenty for starting pitcher Tyson Ross. The right-hander threw seven innings, giving up one run on three hits and punching out eight.

The Friars start a 3-game series in Colorado on Friday evening. Eric Stults takes the mound against Jorge De La Rosa.

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