As the Reds pitching coach said, he knows how it works. If Cueto is walking the world, the media wants to know why. But when he pitches seven innings against the Chicago Cubs and doesn't walk anybody, like he did Wednesday, April 22, nobody bothers Pole.

But he was happy to talk about Cueto.

quot;He's learning,quot; Pole said. quot;He's a young man (23). But what a fastball he had last night. When he got into trouble, he stepped it up a notch to 95 and 96 miles an hour.

quot;But the big thing I noticed was that he is trusting his catcher (Ramon Hernandez),quot; Pole said. quot;He wasn't shaking him off as much as he had been doing.quot;

Cueto understands English, but won't speak it to the media. But his smile says it all.

Bruce Almighty

Jay Bruce had ice wrapped around his right hand before Thursday's game at Wrigley Field, but he kept the ice as far away from his bats as possible.

Since missing three games in Houston with a swollen right hand, Bruce is 5-for-12 with two home runs.

quot;The ice is precautionary,quot; he said. quot;I'm just making sure to do all the things to keep it right. Sometimes when you are injured, you think you are better and you take a step back.quot;

quot;The way Jay is swinging is good because we have to get some guys in the middle of the order swinging it good,quot; Reds manager Dusty Baker said.

Said Bruce, who was hitting .176 when he hurt his hand, quot;Sometimes time off to clear your head is good. Get yourself back in neutral, slow things down, relax, see the ball, hit the ball.quot;

Switching roles

Willy Taveras is a leadoff hitter, responsible for getting on base and igniting havoc. But twice on the just-completed trip he lofted sacrifice flies to score important runs in victories.

quot;You stress that your role changes per situation,quot; Baker said. quot;In that situation, you are no longer a leadoff man; you are an RBI man. Your power guy can be a leadoff guy at times in a game. It's all when you come up.quot;

Unhittable pitches

On Wednesday night, relief pitcher David Weathers struck out Kosuke Fukodome on a third strike, a diving sinker on which Herandez said, quot;God himself couldn't have hit that pitch.quot;

On Thursday, Weathers caught Alfonso Soriano looking at what Weathers called, quot;A straight heater. Hey, I'd rather be lucky than good. When you throw like I do, you better place pitches perfectly.quot;

Quote of the day

quot;You don't want to lose any on the road, but you have to be real. You are always searching for the perfect road trip. I've been searching for 15 years.quot; - Baker on his team's justcompleted 7-3 road trip.