WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Johnny Cueto took a shutout into the ninth Wednesday and, with shaky help from Francisco Cordero, lifted Cincinnati to a 2-1 win over Washington.
Cueto (9-5) came close to throwing his second shutout in four starts, but after blanking the Nationals on five hits through eight innings he gave up a home run to Ryan Zimmerman on the first pitch in the ninth.
Cordero then came on and retired the first man he faced. Washington, however, loaded the bases on a walk, single and a fielding error by shortstop Paul Janish on a grounder off the bat of Jonny Gomes.
Wilson Ramos came to the plate with a chance to win the game, but he grounded into a double play on the first pitch from Cordero, who picked up his 24th save.
Joey Votto hit a homer for the Reds in the first inning and the eventual winning run scored in the eighth on a fielder's choice grounder from Ramon Hernandez.
The loss went to Ross Detwiler (1-3), who gave up a lone run on seven hits in six innings. He struck out seven.
