SATURDAY MLB PREVIEWS

The Cincinnati Reds will put their eight-game winning streak on the line when they visit the Colorado Rockies on Saturday. The Reds, who lead the National League Central by two games over the Pittsburgh Pirates, have reached new heights without their best player – Joey Votto. The 2010 NL MVP is expected to be out until mid-August with a knee injury, but the Reds are 9-2 without him. Colorado is 3-9 in its last 12 games – including Friday’s series-opening 3-0 loss – and hasn’t won a home series since June 3, when it took two of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are 0-5-1 since.

The Reds’ Johnny Cueto, who leads the major leagues with a 2.23 ERA, has won three straight starts. He hasn’t allowed more than three runs in 11 straight outings since yielding five in a 6-3 loss to Colorado on May 25. Rockies lefty Christian Friedrich, who beat Cueto in that game, has alternated good starts with bad ones over his last six outings.

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