CINCINNATI, Ohio -- That playoff loss in Pittsburgh last year? Johnny Cueto never thought about it much. So getting a chance to shut out the Pirates in a rematch wasnt any more special. Not to him, anyway. Cueto pitched his third career shutout against the team that beat him in the NL wild card game, and Joey Votto hit a two-run homer that led the Cincinnati Reds over the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 Wednesday for their first winning series this season. Cueto (1-2) had his way with the lineup that beat him 6-2 at PNC Park in the playoffs. He limited the Pirates to three hits, didnt walk a batter and struck out a career-high 12 during his first shutout since 2011. Any extra satisfaction given what happened the last time he faced them? "I never think too much about those things," Cueto said, with assistant trainer Tomas Vera interpreting. "That was 2013." And Cueto is starting to look more like a vintage ace. He started only 11 games last season because of strained muscles by his pitching shoulder. The right-hander has been solid this season but hasnt gotten much help from an offence that scored only one run while he was on the mound during his first three starts. Cueto didnt need much help on Wednesday, putting the Pirates away with 107 pitches. "Welcome back, Johnny Cueto," manager Bryan Price said. "Hes been great his first three starts, and he was dominant today. It was nice to win our first series. Pittsburgh is a handful." Several Pirates questioned called third strikes by Quinn Wolcott, a Triple-A umpire called up to the majors. Eight of Cuetos strikeouts were called. Maybe it didnt mean anything extra to Cueto, but his teammates got some satisfaction from beating the Pirates. "For us to come together the way we have, especially against the team that beat us in the playoffs, its a lot of fun," third baseman Todd Frazier said. After the NL Central rivals combined for 13 homers while splitting the first two games, Votto supplied the one that broke open the deciding game. Left-hander Francisco Liriano (0-3) opened the game by walking Billy Hamilton, who stole second base and came around on two wild pitches. That was it for scoring until the seventh inning, when Cueto singled and Votto hit his fourth homer in six games. Brayan Pena doubled home a run in the eighth. Liriano and Cueto also were matched in the wild card game last season. Liriano got the better of that one, going seven innings for the victory while Cueto failed to make it through the fourth. Liriano had trouble at the outset on Wednesday. Ten of his first 13 pitches were balls. He walked Hamilton and Votto opening the inning, then threw the two wild pitches that let in the run. The Ohio River rivals had a bruising series last season, with 28 batters hit overall -- the most for any series in the majors. Its been mostly pain-free so far, with only two batters hit during the series. Pirates left fielder Jose Tabata left the game in the fifth inning with what appeared to be a mild concussion after he slammed into the outfield wall while catching Penas fly ball. Tabata fell, held up his glove to show hed caught the ball and sat on the warning track for several minutes. A trainer examined Tabatas neck, jaw and head, and he was helped off the field. "You talk about laying out and making a catch and hitting the wall hard," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "I was just glad he was able to walk off. Well see how it feels tomorrow." NOTES: The Pirates completed their first trip of the season at 3-6. They open a four-game series against Milwaukee on Thursday, with Edinson Volquez starting against Yovani Gallardo. ... The Reds concluded a 3-3 homestand. Theyre off on Thursday before opening a 10-game trip at Wrigley Field. Alfredo Simon starts against the Cubs Jeff Samardzija. ... Reds closer Aroldis Chapman is to throw in the bullpen for the second time on Thursday. The Reds are hoping to have him back from a head injury next month. ... Cueto was called for interference twice while trying to bunt. The first time, he ran out of the box to bunt the ball. The second time, he stood in the box and blocked catcher Tony Sanchez from fielding the bunt. Cheap Patriots Jerseys .Y. -- Defenceman Ryan Murphy had a goal and an assist and Drew MacIntyre made 24 saves to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders 4-2 in an exhibition game Wednesday night. Custom New England Patriots Jerseys .com) - The Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings are ready to put all the talk and hype surrounding their meeting at Dodger Stadium behind them. https://www.patriotsjerseysale.com/. This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Patriots Jerseys 2019 .C. -- Tony Stewart will not race Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, the third Sprint Cup race hes skipped since his car struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. New England Patriots Pro Shop . In the last race before the Sochi Olympics, Bjoergen followed up her win in the 10-kilometre classical race on Saturday by beating World Cup sprint leader Denise Herrmann of Germany by 0.43 seconds for her fifth victory of the season.ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- David Price and the Tampa Bay Rays are on quite a roll. Price won his sixth start in a row, Evan Longoria hit a three-run double, and the Rays earned their eighth straight victory by beating the Boston Red Sox 6-4 on Friday night. "A little bit of the swagger is back," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. The Red Sox lost their fourth consecutive game. Price (11-7) struck out 10 over eight innings. He tied the team record shared by Matt Moore and Scott Kazmir for victories in consecutive starts. "Wonderful once again," Maddon said. This was Prices first game against Boston since he hit David Ortiz with a fastball on May 30, setting off a verbal skirmish between the stars. There was no trouble between them this time as Ortiz returned to the lineup one day after leaving a game because of back spasms. "Its feeling better," Ortiz said. "After what we did last night and today when I got up and took some medication, it felt much better." Ortiz had words with plate umpire Bill Miller during an early strikeout, then hit an RBI single in a two-run sixth for a 3-2 Red Sox lead. "It definitely felt good," Price of striking out Ortiz. "Hes a tough out always." Price has pitched at least eight innings in eight of his last nine starts. Ben Zobrist got his fourth hit, an RBI single that made it 3-all in the seventh. Later in the inning, Longoria delivered his go-ahead hit off Junichi Tazawa (1-2). "Weve won some games and weve done some things that kind of remind us of what were capable of, but by no means are we where we want to be," Longoria said. "Weve got a lot of work to do." Tampa Bay improoved to three games under .dddddddddddd500 for the first time since May 6. Jake McGee gave up a run in the ninth but got his 10th save. Desmond Jennings hit a two-run homer in the fifth off Boston starter Jon Lester for a 2-1 lead. Lester gave up two runs and six hits in six innings. He had allowed just one earned run over 31 innings in his previous four starts. "We made David work pretty hard, but he was able to get a lot more early-out counts than I was, and thats why he was able to go a couple more innings," Lester said. The crowd greeted Ortiz with sustained booing before his first at-bat in the first. The fans then gave Price a partial standing ovation after Ortiz took a called third strike. "Our fans were pretty hot," Maddon said. "They came out with a little attitude. We dug it." Shane Victorino connected in the second for the 20th home run allowed this season by Price. Victorino also singled home Ortiz in the sixth. NOTES: Zobrist had infield singles in each of his first three at-bats. ... Rays OF Wil Myers (broken right wrist) hopes to take batting practice in four or five days. He could return in mid-August. ... Tampa Bay reliever Joel Peralta (illness) could come off the DL early next week. He will pitch for Single-A Charlotte on Saturday. ... Rays C Ryan Hanigan (left oblique strain) ran the bases after defensive drills. ... Boston C Ryan Lavarnway (wrist) was sent to Triple-A Pawtucket to continue his rehab assignment. ... Tampa Bay plans to recall RHP Jeremy Hellickson (elbow surgery) from Charlotte to make his second big league start of the season on Saturday night. The Red Sox will counter with RHP John Lackey. ' ' '