Johnny Cueto pitched poorly Wednesday night, allowing five runs in five innings of work as the Reds fell to the Cardinals 7-3. He lost 2.1 Cy Young Tracker points, and that cuts his lead to 8.3 points over Clayton Kershaw. Since an extremely well pitched game can net a pitcher around six points, Kershaw has a chance to narrow the gap even further Thursday night.

Cueto, in my opinion, cost himself the award last night, regardless of how the season plays out. The Reds went into the game 7 1/2 games behind the Cardinals and 5 1/2 games behind the Giants in the wild card race. They had their ace on the mound late in the season against a team they were chasing, and Cueto gave up five runs. In other words, this was a high leverage game in terms of giving the Reds a chance at making the playoffs. While one game shouldn’t make that much difference in voter’s minds, anyone who is on the edge between Kershaw and Cueto can point to this game and say, “When it mattered, Cueto failed.” At this point, the award is Kershaw’s to lose.

Garrett Richards won’t be closing the gap with Felix Hernandez any time soon:

Richards, the hard-throwing right-hander who has emerged as one of baseball’s best pitchers in his first full season as a starter, suffered what Manager Mike Scioscia called a “significant” left knee injury while covering first base on a potential double-play grounder in the second inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Richards spent eight minutes on the ground before being wheeled out on a stretcher. His 2014 season appears finished, and he will likely need surgery on the patellar tendon, a procedure that would require at least a six-month recovery.

The hurts the team’s chances in the playoffs more than their chance of making the playoffs. They have a big enough lead over all the wild card opponents, and Oakland isn’t exactly playing well lately. They would be much better off in a wild card game with Richards on the mound, especially if they end up facing King Felix.