The ball falls in front of Jon Jay in the eighth inning. (photo/MLB)

The ball falls in front of Jon Jay in the eighth inning. (photo/MLB)

Cincinnati’s Johnny Cueto pitched eight scoreless innings to beat Lance Lynn and hand the Cardinals to their third straight loss, a 1-0 final on Thursday afternoon at Great American Ballpark.

Cueto (18-8) gave up three hits and hit a batter.  Lynn (15-9) had retired 15 straight before Brandon Phillips led off the eighth inning with a walk of the game. He went to third on Jay Bruce’s single to center field and scored on Ramon Santiago’s sinking liner to short center.

Pittsburgh plays at Philadelphia tonight.  A win by the Pirates could cut the Cardinals lead to 2.5 games.  Milwaukee also plays tonight, taking on Miami.