Freischaltung » dream come true, Bregman told MLB.com. And

PITTSBURGH -- Neil Walker eyed Johnny Cuetos fastball and turned on it. Before the Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman could get the bat out of his hands, the ball was nestled into the glove of Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto. In one motion Walker flipped his bat in faux disgust then turned back toward the dugout. "You hit a ball hard and sometimes you see that its the guys night and it seemed like it was one of those," Walker said. It always seems that way when Cueto faces the Pirates. The Cincinnati ace allowed one hit over eight dominant innings as the Reds pounded Pittsburgh in a 6-0 win on Friday night. Cueto (3-0) struck out six, walked one and allowed just three balls out of the infield. Pittsburghs Brandon Inge provided the lone Pirates hit with a single to left with one out in the fifth. "He looked really good tonight, though, like the Johnny Cueto of old," Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker said. "He had great stuff, great stamina and he really pitched a heck of a ballgame." Cueto improved to 13-4 all-time against the Pirates while shaving his career ERA against Pittsburgh to 2.33. Not bad for a player who missed more than a month with a back injury. There appeared to be no such issues in his third start since being taking off the disabled list on May 19. Mixing an effective changeup with a fastball that still topped out at 94 mph in the eighth, Cueto kept Pittsburgh off balance all night. "I feel good," Cueto said. "I make the adjustment that I had to make and I feel good so far. It feels good to come back here and pitch well." Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips hit solo home runs off Pittsburghs Wandy Rodriguez (6-3) before piling on late against reliever Mike Zagurski in a rare hiccup by baseballs best bullpen through the first third of the season. Bruce has struggled against Rodriguez throughout his career entering the night just 2 for 32 (.063) against the veteran lefthander. Those numbers inched up when he took a 2-0 fastball and sent it into the first row of seats in right centre for his eighth homer of the year. "You know its there but Im a better hitter than I have shown against him in the past," Bruce said. "Its nice to get one off him and now I have to keep on going when I face him." Phillips followed suit in the sixth, lining a shot that scraped the top of the leftfield wall just over the glove of Pittsburghs Starling Marte. Wandy Rodriguez (6-3) kept Cincinnati in check otherwise on a night he struggled with his command at times. The left-hander surrendered five hits and walked three with five strikeouts in seven innings. While Cuetos had his way with Pittsburgh in his 20 career starts, the Pirates have made inroads recently. They spoiled his chance at winning his 20th game in his final start last season and he left a 3-1 loss to the Pirates on April 13 with a strained back that sidelined him for five weeks. He returned with five effective innings in a 4-3 victory over the New York Mets on May 20 then backed it up an even stronger performance six days later against the Chicago Cubs. He exited with a three-run lead the bullpen ultimately gave away in a 5-4 10-inning loss. This time, Cueto hardly needed the bullpen at all. Inges single in the fifth was a harmless one-hopper in front of leftfielder Derrick Robinson. If Inge doesnt get the ball down, theres a chance the Reds no-hit the Pirates for the second time in eight months. Homer Bailey threw a no-no in Pittsburgh last September. "Luckily Brandon saved us all with a half-swing base hit," Walker said. "Maybe we should all have half-swinged tonight. Nothing else really worked for us." The momentum Inge provided lasted all of one pitch. Clint Barmes ended the inning by hitting into a double play and Pittsburgh didnt manage another baserunner the rest of the way. "Johnny was Johnny," Bruce said. "He was brilliant. Obviously, his numbers in the game spoke for themselves. Hes a huge piece of the puzzle to have back." NOTES: Votto went 0 for 3 but walked twice to push his season total to a National League-leading 46 ... The game was the 1000th played at PNC Park, which opened in 2001. The Pirates are 488-512 all-time at PNC, including 49-52 against the Reds ... Pittsburgh finished May 19-9, the franchises best record in a calendar month since September, 1992, the last time the Pirates made the playoffs ... The series continues on Saturday when Pittsburghs Francisco Liriano (3-1, 2.35 ERA) faces Cincinnatis Mike Leake (4-2, 3.02). As part of Heritage Weekend the Pirates will wear replica uniforms of the Homestead Grays while the Reds will wear Cincinnati Tigers jerseys. Joe Perry Jersey . Jane Virtanen scored two, and Alex Roach and Elliott Peterson rounded out the offence for the Hitmen (40-15-6). Brady Brassart chipped in with three assists. Colton McCarthy scored twice, Brayden Point had a goal and two assists, and Jack Rodewald also scored for the Warriors (15-35-9), who were 2 for 5 on the power play. Jim Lee Hunt Jersey . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. http://www.custompatriotsjersey.com/custom-hugh-mcelhenny-jersey-large-821f.html .Y. - Free agent outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, fresh off winning the World Series with Boston, reached agreement with the rival New York Yankees on a seven-year contract worth about $153 million, a person familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday night. Steve Nelson Jersey . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. J. T. OSullivan Jersey . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. The Houston Astros called up top prospect Alex Bregman following their 13-3 win over the Angels on Sunday.?Bregman, a right-handed hitter, joins the Astros clubhouse after creating buzz with his three-hit performance in the 2016 Futures Game. He was hitting .333 with six home runs and 15 RBIs in 18 games at Triple-A Fresno.He has played shortstop, third base and left field during his time in the minors. With second base and shortstop already spoken for in Houston because of Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, Bregman will most likely have to shift to third base or left field upon arrival at Minute Maid Park.Before his stint at Fresno, Bregman hit .297 with 14 home runs and 46 RBIs at Double-A Corpus Christi. He was a college standout for LSU and earned First-Team All-American honors for the Tigers in 2015. Ranked No. 19 in Keith Laws top 100 prospect rankings, Bregman was the No. 2 overall selection in the 2015 draft.?Its a dream come true, Bregman told MLB.com. And Im ready to go work, keep my mouth shut and hopefully help contribute.ddddddddddddregman also told MLB.com that the first thing he did upon getting the news was to make a call to his parents.She was screaming, Bregman said of his mother. Im just very excited. I cant wait to get to work and hopefully help contribute and help win games.Astros manager A.J. Hinch told reporters that it was a good point in the season to call up Bregman.Were rolling along pretty well and he doesnt have to come up here and be anything but himself and contribute at a couple of different positions, Hinch said. Its never going to be enough when youre trying to teach somebody a different position, but we feel like his time is now to come up and add whatever he can to a good clubhouse and good team and not have to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders as a young player.Information from ESPNs Jerry Crasnick was used in this report. ' ' '