@Reds 5, Padres 0 (day) — Is this roll of Johnny Cueto’s really happening? His second 3-hit shutout this year gave him nine straight starts allowing 5 hits or less in 7 innings or more — ten straight if you count last season. Neither streak has a searchable match.

No one reached second base off Johnny. Will Venable led off the game with a bunt hit, and was erased by DP two pitches later. Still no score in the 4th, Venable tried that route again, but Cueto threw him out. Everth Cabrera followed with a single, but was caught stealing in the next at-bat. Their final hit was by Seth Smith in the 7th; two strikes to Chase Headley before he rapped into the 3-6-3. Cueto’s two walks both came with two outs, and both were left on the platform for a train that never came. The Cincy offense came from the keystone, as Brandon Phillips and Zack Cozart combined for 5 hits and all 5 RBI.

One-year streaks: Nine straight games with 7+ IP and 2 runs or less: The last streak longer was by Mike Scott in ’86. Other 9-gamers since Scott: Justin Verlander, 2011; Johan Santana, 2004; Randy Johnson, ’99; Orel Hershiser, ’88; and Bill Gullickson, ’86. All but Gullickson (a Red) won the Cy Young Award that year.

• With men on base, Cueto’s held foes to 6 for 60, 4 DPs. Cabrera was the first to even try a steal this year; the poor pilfering saps are now 16 up and 31 down in Cueto’s career.
• Cueto joins Martin Perez and Henderson Alvarez with two shutouts this year. But Johnny’s just 2-2 in his other 7 strong starts, and Cincy 3-4.
• 72 innings, 33 hits, that’s 4.13 hit per 9 IP. The qualified record is Nolan Ryan’s 5.26 in 1972. Three relief seasons with such a hits rate in 70+ IP: Koji Uehara last year (4.00 H/9), Eric Gagne 2003 (4.04) and Carlos Marmol ’08 (4.12). With 18 walks, Cueto’s WHIP is 0.708; the record is Pedro’s 0.737 in 2000, no other live-ball qualifier under 0.84 (except Tim Hudson so far this year, 0.812). Five relief seasons with such a WHIP, led by Uehara’s 0.565.

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Yankees 1, @Mets 0 — Alfonso Soriano’s two-out double in the 7th scored Brian McCann on fumes from first base, and Yankee relievers got 13 outs by fanning 10 of 15 batters, as the Yanks pulled out a Subway Split and spoiled Jacob deGrom’s impressive debut.

In the 15th matchup since 1914 of starters in their major-league debuts, untouted Chris Whitley outpitched deGrom, if not as long nor against as good a lineup. Whitley retired the first six Mets, then let up his only two hits to put men on the corners with one out in the 3rd. But Eric Young, one of the goats of Wednesday’s loss, popped to shallow left on a 3-1 count, and Whitley’s curve froze Daniel Murphy, the first of seven Mets caught looking by Hunter Wendelstedt’s wide (but consistent) strike zone.

deGrom had four baserunners through the first 3 innings, but he fanned Mark Teixeira to end one threat, and started two inning-ending double plays on sharp knocks at him. He retired 11 straight from there into the 7th before walking Teixeira. McCann’s sharp grounder to Murphy might have been another pitcher’s friend; but with a shift on, David Wright was left to make the turn, and his flat-footed relay died in transit. deGrom hung an 0-1 slider, and Soriano split the gap right up to the wall in left-center, far enough for McCann to beat a high relay and score from first base on a double for the first time since 2012.

All that was left was familiar Citi Field futility at bat. The Mets wasted Whitley’s two walks in the 5th, Young grounding out against Dellin Betances after deGrom’s well-executed sacrifice. Betances had the Mets befuddled for the next two frames, fanning six straight without a loud foul or even a foul tip on two strikes. Four of those were caught looking at a breaking ball, and while the Mets were irked by some calls, they could have swung all night and not touched Betances, who’s now fanned 36 of 87 batters faced (45%). One last threat in the 8th, when Murphy’s single put the tying run on third with two outs. But David Robertson came in early and got Wright on a routine roll to short.

• Both Whitley and deGrom singled in their first time up, the latter robbing regional talk radio of a favorite topic.
• After Young’s short fly in the 3rd, only Murphy’s single in the 8th left the infield. The Mets’ last 19 outs were 13 Ks, 5 groundouts and a sacrifice.
• deGrom is the 6th Met ever with 7+ IP and one run or less in his debut. He threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of 25 and generally pitched with aplomb.
• Yanks have back-to-back shutouts for the second time this year, while the Mets so suffered for the second time this month. First same-year shutout streak for either Subway Series side.

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@Cardinals 5, Cubs 3 —

First 5-out save for Trevor Rosenthal, who entered with bags full and one out after Kevin Siegrist’s control failed against the middle of the order.

Anthony Rizzo twice took what the shift conceded. Bunting with two outs and none on in the 1st is dubious, but leading off the 4th when down 4-0 is absolutely right. Starlin Castro made that one count, and two more reached with one away, but Michael Wacha pumped third strikes past Jeff Baker and the pitcher.

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Orioles 2, @Royals 1 — Just two pitches hurt Yordano Ventura, who struck out 9 in 6.1 IP (including six straight), but those two pitches came back-to-back: Ball four to Chris Davis, on a full count to start the 4th, and then a high fastball that Nelson Cruz parked in right-center. KC pulled just one run from their full sacks in the home half, as Danny Valencia just missed a slam, and four Oriole relievers retired 11 straight to end it. Zach Britton earned his first-ever save, continuing his dominance of both left and right in his new bullpen role.

• How much has Cruz meant to the O’s so far? He leads the team with 12 home runs (all others have 22), 33 RBI (23%), 25 runs (no other has 20), 7 doubles. He’s even #2 in walks.
• The Davis pass was Balto’s only one tonight. They’re last in MLB with 87 walks through 39 games, and 13th in AL scoring.

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@Brewers 4, Pirates 3 — Both starters yielded 2 solo home runs, and both bullpens had control issues. Milwaukee’s Tyler Thornburg and Rob Wooten solved their predicaments with double plays, but Mark Melancon’s rare hiccup was his undoing. Ryan Braun led off with a single before Melancon threw 7 straight balls, winding up with bases full (and two walks in a game for just the second time in his last 115 outings). Khris Davis was both beneficiary and benefactor, his bat-busting liner falling safely in front of Andrew McCutchen as the tying and winning runs wheeled home.

• Melancon had the best 2013-14 control rate of anyone with 50+ innings, 0.90 W/9.
• The Crew rose to 9-4 in one-run games, best in the NL, inclyding three of their last five games.
• Rickie Weeks (4-1-3-1) is 13 for 20 this month.

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Rays 5, @Angels 2 (7th) — As I’ve said all along, Erik Bedard was just a tweak away from regaining his best form of yore.

• Jake McGee bailed out another mess, stranding the tying runs. He’s stranded all 13 inherited runners, one reason he’s top-5 in WPA this year despite no saves and only three games finished.
• The Rays have problems, but they have time to solve them: No one’s pulled away in the AL East or wild-card race. And a coaching staff that can revive Bedard (2 ER in his last 4 starts) is a problem-solving bunch, for sure.

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Padres 6, @Reds 1 (night) — Rene Rivera’s 2-out clout scored Cameron Maybin for a 2-1 Pads edge in the 2nd, and they planted four more fenceposts around Tyson Ross’s seven 3-hit innings. Everth Cabrera and Yonder Alonso each hit his first home run this year, after a combined 300+ PAs,

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@Toronto 4, Cleveland 2 — Edwin Encarnacion popped a pair, and Juan Francisco hit his 7th, 6th in 14 starts at Rogers Centre.

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@Twins 4, BoSox 3 (10 inn.) — Kurt Suzuki’s double and Aaron Hicks’s first game-winning hit gave the Twins the rubber game, after they blew a 2-run lead with two outs in Boston’s 9th. Phil Hughes continued his resurgence with 8 Ks, no walks, in six one-run innings, in line to win his 5th straight start. But Boston packed the sacks on singles off closer Glenn Perkins, who fanned David Ross for the second out but left a first-pitch fastball up for Will Middlebrooks, who spanked it through the right side for the tying runs. The Twins had gone hitless in six ribby chances, leaving 10 aboard, before the surprise delivery by Hicks, who came in 2 for 22 in RISP tries.

• Minnesota’s taken two of three in all four series with AL East teams.
• Suzuki had three hits, scored twice, and is batting .325 with 25 RBI, 2nd and 1st among regular backstops. He’s never hit .280 in a season, or more than .293 in a half.
• Hughes’s first 3-ball count, with two down in the 5th, was followed by seven straight fouls before Xander Bogaerts flied out. He hasn’t walked a man in 4 straight starts, a personal best and tied with Tim Hudson for the longest streak this year. Overall, 6 walks and 40 Ks in 47.1 IP.
• Curious: David Ortiz began the tying rally with a hit, then left for a pinch-runner, though he didn’t represent the tying run. His spot came up in the 10th with two outs, bases empty, and Jonathan Herrera walked before Mike Napoli fanned to cap his 0-for-5. No report of injury to Papi, who’d hit 4 HRs in the last two games.

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Wednesday

@Astros 5, Rangers 4 — I’m probably making too much of this, but Houston’s comeback from a late 4-0 deficit to claim the series seems almost epic. At the least, it crystallized the Rangers’ mounting problems.

Jason Frasor came in with bags full and one out in the 6th and got two huge strikeouts to hold the Texas lead. But after their bid to push the cushion fizzled following Prince Fielder’s 11th IBB, Frasor foundered. Jose Altuve singled to start the stretch frame, and Frasor’s 2-0 fastball to George Springer missed its target by 17 inches or 380 feet, depending when you measured. Dexter Fowler primed the winning push by reaching for the 5th straight time, and Jason Castro waited out a 1-2 count and walked, his 4th time aboard. Matt Dominguez found himself in that same hole, but Nick Martinez let that run full as well, before Dominguez’s deep fly to right beat Alex Rios to the wall.

• First Texas series loss to Houston since 2008, snapping a streak of 15. First time since 2006 losing two straight in a Houston series; first since 2004 losing two straight games at Houston. From 2009-13, the Rangers went 36-7 in this series, and 19-3 at Houston.
• Just the Astros’ third series win this season.

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White Sox 4, @Athletics 2 — The A’s were streaking towards a 7th straight win, handing off a one-run lead through six to their AL-best bullpen. Just three hits had marred Fernando Abad’s line through 16 innings this year. But one-out singles by Gordon Beckham and Conor Gillaspie put the tying run on third, and brought in a righty to face the menacing Jose Abreu. Luke Gregerson procured one swing-and-miss. Of his next offering, Luke would later say: “I don’t think it was really a bad pitch. It was just something he was ready for. He was looking for it. We’ve been doing it to him the whole series, pound him in. It just stayed up a little too much. Any other day, it could be a groundout to third base, we get a double play.”

It did stay up too much.

Nice game-ending grab in center, especially for a guy who’s played just 20 pro games in the outfield. Leury Garcia was playing almost with his back to the wall, but he got a good read on Cespedes’ sinking liner straight at him, one of the toughest plays for a CF.

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Marlins 13, @Dodgers 3 — Any pitcher who bats four times in his big-league debut should go home happy, even if he doesn’t get a hit and drive in two, as Anthony DeSclafani did. The 24-year-old right-hander only had to pitch one frame with the outcome still in doubt, retiring Andre Ethier to end the 1st with two men on before the Marlins took a six-iron to Paul Maholm. DeSclafani got here on control (1.8 W/9 in the minors), and he stayed true to form, walking only Yasiel Puig on a full count in the 1st. He’s the first Marlin since 2010 to start and win his debut. (You mean you don’t remember Adalberto Mendez?)

• Randy Wolf pitched the last 3 innings and earned his first-ever save, in his first action since 2012.
• Professional Hitter™ Reed Johnson is 17 for 50 with 10 RBI.
• Dodgers are 9-15 vs. teams at .500 and above. Not to discount their 7 wins against Arizona, but without those games they’d have a losing record and negative run differential.

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Angels 3, @Phillies 0 — Garrett Richards’s first four starts seemed a little lucky: 2.52 ERA, but 14 walks in 25 innings, and .217 BAbip. But his last four: 2.33 ERA, 6 walks and 30 Ks in 27 IP, .288 BAbip. He’s allowed one HR in 52 IP, second to Mark Buehrle in HR/9 for qualifiers.

• Chase Utley has 17 doubles in 35 games played, and 6 doubles & 3 triples in his last 6 games.
• 3 walks, 2 extra-base hits for Ben Revere. He’s on a streak of 34 starts with no doubles — and that’s just his 3rd-longest streak. He’s approaching the theoretical limit of how bad a .268 hitter can be; his current OPS+ of 62 is just one point more than the post-WWII low with a BA .268 or better.