MWL1 West Michigan Whitecaps

Whitecaps Stifled By Rehabbing Cueto

Published on May 14, 2013 under Midwest League (MWL1)
West Michigan Whitecaps News Release


DAYTON, OH - The West Michigan Whitecaps had their hands full with rehabbing Cincinnati Reds' star Johnny Cueto on Tuesday night, narrowly avoiding a shutout in a 6-2 loss to the Dayton Dragons at Fifth Third Field.

West Michigan (15-20) was blanked through eight innings before mounting a rally in the ninth, but Dayton (13-24) utilized the right arm of one of the National League's best young pitchers to snap their four-game losing streak.

Cueto (1-0) earned his first Midwest League win since 2006, twirling five scoreless innings while allowing only three singles. He struck out four without issuing a walk, throwing just 58 pitches before exiting the game and finishing his work on the bullpen mound. It was the second rehab start in Dayton for Cueto, who was 1-0 with a 2.60 ERA in three Major League starts before being placed on the Reds' Disabled List on April 14 with a strained right lat muscle.

The 27-year-old had the best season of his young career in 2012, going 19-9 with a 2.78 ERA and 170 strikeouts while finishing fourth in the National League Cy Young voting. Back in 2006, Cueto was 8-1 with a 2.59 ERA in 14 starts for the Dragons as a 20-year-old Midwest Leaguer working his way up the ladder.

Cueto was even more dominant on Tuesday than he was during his original tour through the Midwest League, but West Michigan's Yorfrank Lopez was matching him zero-for-zero through the first half of the ballgame.

That changed in the fifth and sixth innings.

With one out in the fifth, Robert Ramirez golfed a one-out line drive inside the right field foul pole for a solo home run that broke the scoreless tie. In the bottom of the sixth, Lopez's first pitch of the inning was similarly lined to right by Jesse Winker, clearing the fence for another solo blast. Later in the frame, Joe Hudson singled home Seth Mejias-Brean with two outs to put Dayton ahead, 3-0.

Lopez (3-2) was dealt the loss despite registering a quality start. He was charged with three runs on eight hits over six innings, striking out four and issuing one walk.

The Dragons put the game out of reach against vaunted Whitecaps' closer Jose Valdez in the bottom of the eighth. The hard-throwing right-hander entered play having allowed just two hits and no runs all season long. Working in a non-save situation - and for the first time in six days - he was roughed up for three runs on five hits in the eighth inning alone. Run-scoring singles by Hudson, Tanner Rahier and Beau Amaral suddenly staked Dayton to a 6-0 lead heading into the ninth.

West Michigan put together a last-gasp rally, loading the bases with nobody out and getting a two-out, two-run single from Adolfo Reina to avoid the shutout. Ben Klimesh (2) then came in to seal the deal, striking out Jared Reaves to earn the save with the potential game-tying run still standing in the on-deck circle.

The Whitecaps continue their nine-game, three-city road trip with the middle game of a three-game series against the Dayton Dragons at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday night. RHP Endrys Briceno (0-3, 6.40) is scheduled to take the mound for West Michigan against LHP Ismael Guillon (1-4, 9.89) of the Dragons. The next home game at Fifth Third Ballpark will be on Friday, May 17, at 6:35 p.m. featuring an Avisail Garcia bobblehead doll giveaway for the first 1,000 fans. Group and individual tickets can be reserved by calling the Whitecaps front office at 616-784-4131 or visiting www.whitecapsbaseball.com.

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