44 Mike Leake, SP

Reds starting pitcher Mike Leake moved to 7-3 on the season by holding the Pirates to one earned run on six hits and one walk in seven innings Monday while striking out three.

Leake has allowed a total of six earned runs over his last seven starts to lower his ERA to 2.64. He'll take on the Diamondbacks Saturday.

Reds starter Mike Leake spun a gem Wednesday afternoon against the Cubs to move to 6-3.

Leake went eight innings and allowed just one run on three hits and a walk. The only run scored on Nate Schierholtz's home run. Otherwise, Leake was sharp, as he needed just 103 pitches to get through eight innings. Leake has gone six straight starts without allowing more than three runs, with five of the six coming as quality starts.

Reds starter Mike Leake ran up his pitch count as he was tagged with his third loss of the season Friday night against the Cardinals.

Leake (5-3) surrendered three runs on six hits and one walk while striking out three in five innings in a 9-2 defeat. He threw 97 pitches, 60 for strikes.

Leake has allowed just four runs combined in his last five starts (32 innings). He is scheduled to make his next start Wednesday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. He allowed two runs in seven innings in his previous meeting against the Cubs on April 22.

Mike Leake had a pretty ugly 2012: a 4.58 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, and 5.8 K/9. But if you look at his game logs, things don't add up -- of Leake's 30 starts, he allowed two or fewer runs in 13 games. And three runs or fewer in 19. It was the collection of games where he lasted three innings and gave up six-ish runs that got Leake into trouble and drove up his ERA, overshadowing his good runs.

A former top-10 pick of the Reds (eighth overall in 2009), Leake gave up nine runs in his first two games this season, then held opponents to 11 total in his next nine. In fact, over his last nine starts, Leake is 5-2 with a 1.91 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. It's tough to divine much from his minor-league stats because there really are none, as outside of a quick stint in 2011, Leake was one of three players since 1995 to go straight to the majors. 

It appears Leake may have just had his lumps on a big stage, instead of learning and maturing in, say, Louisville. He's on a nice roll and may finally be realizing the potential of his early years. His lack of strikeouts hurt him a little bit in Roto, but Leake has pitched his way into must-own territory in most H2H Points leagues.