"Johnny Cueto, when first asked if he would pitch against this year, said: "No, I don't think so."

Cueto amended that a bit with the help of a translator.

"I don't know at this point," he said. "I want to throw. (But,) honestly, it hurts. I feel sore. It's painful right now. The doctor told most likely I'm going to lose the next outing. We will see how it progresses and if I can pitch one more time."

Cueto suffered a strained right lat muscle in last night's start. Whether he pitched or not would not be an issue if he wasn't in the race for the Major League lead in ERA at 2.31. Cueto has to pitch 162 innings to qualify for the title. He's six innings short at this point.

There's no great upside to Cueto pitching with the Reds out of it.

"I don't know if it's going to be a benefit," Cueto said. "I don't want to get medication in my shoulder just to pitch one more time. I just want to see if I feel OK to pitch one more time. If not, I've just got to get ready and be healthy for next year.""