CINCINNATI — Johnny Cueto walked four of his first eight batters, grabbing his lower back after one pitch. Everyone in the Arizona Diamondbacks dugout could see something was wrong.

“He didn’t look comfortable,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “You could see between innings he was stretching in the dugout. I think his back was bothering him.”

The Diamondbacks still couldn’t touch him.

Arizona managed only a pair of hits that didn’t leave the infield, and the Cincinnati Reds turned Joey Votto’s well-placed single into a 1-0 victory — one of three in the National League on Wednesday. The Mets beat Milwaukee and the Dodgers beat Colorado by the same minimalist score.

It was the first time in 33 seasons, going back to Sept. 1, 1976, that there were three 1-0 games in the same league on the same day. Back then, the Mets beat the Giants; the Astros beat the Phillies; and the Cardinals beat the Reds.

None was more surprising than the Reds’ win, which started ominously. Cueto (8-4) got a visit from manager Dusty Baker and a trainer after he grabbed his lower back after a pitch in the second inning. Even plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt could tell something was bothering the 23-year-old pitcher.

“Very concerned,” Baker said. “When we went out to talk to him, even the umpire said he wasn’t himself, and umpires know pitchers as well as anybody. You could tell his velocity wasn’t there, but then I looked up (an inning later) and it was 93, 94 mph, so I guess it cleared up.”

Trainers helped him stretch between innings. Cueto gave up Felipe Lopez’s infield single in the third, a grounder that deflected off the pitcher’s left leg, then retired the last 12 batters he faced in six innings.

Arizona has lost nine of 11 due to an offense that’s among the NL’s worst. The Diamondbacks threatened in the seventh against reliever Arthur Rhodes, who gave up Gerardo Parra’s bunt single and a pair of walks to load the bases with two outs. Lopez flied out, and the last seven Diamondbacks went down in order.

Francisco Cordero pitched a perfect ninth for his 19th save in 20 chances, completing Cincinnati’s seventh shutout of the season.

Jon Garland (4-8) pitched six solid innings but couldn’t break the longest losing streak of his career. The right-hander hasn’t won since May 19, going 0-6 with a pair of no-decisions. Blame Arizona’s offense, which has scored three or fewer runs in five of those games.

Mets 1, Brewers 0: At Milwaukee, the Mets overcame Yovani Gallardo’s career-high 12 strikeouts and ended a five-game losing streak, their longest of the season.

Mike Pelfrey (6-3) gave up six hits and two walks in 7 2-3 innings. He gave up a single and a walk with two outs in the eighth, but Sean Green got J.J. Hardy to ground into a forceout. Francisco Rodriguez finished for his 21st save.

Gallardo (8-5) gave up five hits in seven innings, including Ryan Church’s run-scoring single in the sixth inning. His 12 strikeouts were the most by a pitcher against the Mets since John Smoltz struck out 15 for the Braves on April 10, 2005, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Dodgers 1, Rockies 0: At Los Angeles, Rafael Furcal had a pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth inning, leading the Dodgers to victory in the final game of Manny Ramirez’s 50-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy.

The Dodgers were 29-21 during Ramirez’s absence. The 12-time All-Star will return to the lineup Friday night for the start of a three-game series at San Diego.

Brad Ausmus led off the eighth with a single against Rockies starter Jason Hammel (5-4) and advanced on Juan Castro’s sacrifice. Russell Martin ran for Ausmus and scored when Furcal singled to right while batting for reliever Ramon Troncoso (2-0).

Braves 11, Phillies 1: At Atlanta, Jair Jurrjens allowed his first hit with two outs in the seventh inning.

Jurrjens (6-6) began the night with the seventh-lowest run support in the majors, including only five runs in his last four losses. That lack of support ended as the Braves scored seven runs off Cole Hamels (4-5), who left the game after giving up three hits and a walk in the fifth.

Cubs 4, Pirates 1: At Pittsburgh, Derrek Lee and Kosuke Fukudome homered to support Randy Wells’ seven effective innings, and the Cubs won another series from the Pirates.

With Wells (3-3) limiting the Pirates to one run and six hits in his third consecutive victory, the Cubs took two of three in the series. Chicago has won eight of its last nine series against the last-place Pirates dating to the teams’ final matchup in 2007.

Marlins 5, Nationals 3: At Miami, Hanley Ramirez extended his RBI streak to 10 games, and the Marlins remained unbeaten against the Nationals this season.

Cody Ross hit his 14th home run and added an RBI single for Florida, which improved to 9-0 against Washington this season and 25-3 against the Nationals since September 2007. Ramirez hit a two-run double for the Marlins, making him the first shortstop in NL history with an RBI streak of double-digit games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Cardinals 2, Giants 1, 10 innings: At St. Louis, rookie Colby Rasmus led off the 10th inning with a homer after rookie third baseman Pablo Sandoval dropped his foul pop-up earlier in the at-bat.

Sandoval circled Rasmus’ foul ball off a 2-2 pitch from Bob Howry (0-4), arriving late and missing with a stab of his glove. Three pitches later, Rasmus homered to straightaway center for his first game-ending hit. Ryan Franklin (2-0) worked a perfect 10th for the win.

Astros 7, Padres 1: At San Diego, Brian Moehler (5-4) and two relievers held San Diego to five hits. San Diego has lost 11 of its last 16 home games, and seven of eight against the Astros dating to last season.