Cueto, Nix lead way for Reds in win over Tribe

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Johnny Cueto won his third straight start and Laynce Nix homered for the third day in a row as the Cincinnati Reds beat the error-prone Cleveland Indians 6-4 on Saturday night.

Cueto (4-1) gave up four hits and two runs over six innings as the Reds moved into first place in the NL Central by a half-game over St. Louis. The right-hander improved to 4-0 with a 2.18 ERA in his last five starts — including a one-hit shutout of Pittsburgh on May 11.

The Indians stranded two runners in the eighth and ninth innings. Nick Masset came on in the eighth and got Jhonny Peralta on a called third strike.

Indians starter Fausto Carmona (4-2) took the loss.

Trevor Crowe’s two-run single with the bases loaded in the ninth off Francisco Cordero made it 6-4. Cordero, pitching for the third straight day and in a non-save situation, then got Shin-Soo Choo on a called third strike in a 10-pitch at-bat. Austin Kearns lined the next pitch to right fielder Jay Bruce to end it. It was Cordero’s 36th pitch of the inning.

Bruce was 4 for 4 with two RBIs and Brandon Phillips had two doubles and three runs for Cincinnati, which is 18-7 since opening the season 7-11.

The Reds have won 11 of 14 from their state in-rival since 2008 and lead the all-time series 33-32.

Cleveland made three errors in its season-high sixth straight loss to drop deeper into last place in the AL Central.

Travis Hafner’s two-out, two-run homer got Cleveland within 5-2 in the sixth. Cueto then walked Peralta and went to a 2-1 count on Matt LaPorta when manager Dusty Baker and trainer Paul Lessard went to the mound to check on the right-hander.

Whatever was troubling Cueto didn’t keep him from getting LaPorta to pop out on the next pitch.

Bruce’s third straight single gave the Reds a 6-2 lead in the seventh. He added a double in the ninth.