cleveland indians Phillips hurts Tribe, again

Associated Press

CINCINNATI

The Cleveland Indians gave up on Brandon Phillips at the start of the 2006 season. He’s been getting back at them ever since.

The Gold Glove second baseman helped the Cincinnati Reds get through their illness with another strong game against his former team, hitting a two-run homer and driving in three runs in a 5-3 victory over the Indians on Wednesday night.

The three-hit game raised his career average against the Indians to .347, an indication that it’s not just another team to him.

“To tell you the truth, man, I don’t know why,” Phillips said. “I just go out there and try to get the job done.”

Everyone knows there’s a little more to it than that.

“You’ve got to use every edge you can,” manager Dusty Baker said. “I told him we’re playing the Indians. He just kind of smiled.”

Michael Brantley extended his hitting streak to 20 games, matching the longest in the majors this season. It’s the longest by an Indians player since Casey Blake hit in 26 straight games in 2007.

Otherwise, there wasn’t much offensively for Cleveland, which dropped the opener of the intrastate series 7-1 on Tuesday night even though the Reds were depleted by illness. They were closer to full strength on Wednesday, with several players eating chicken noodle soup for energy.

Rookie shortstop Zack Cozart missed a second straight game because of the illness.

The Indians loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth inning, but managed only one run. Johnny Damon took a called third strike, Casey Kotchman grounded into a run-scoring forceout and Lonnie Chisenhall grounded out.

Carlos Santana doubled — only the Indians’ second extra-base hit of the series — and eventually scored on Damon’s groundout in the sixth, cutting it to 3-2. Phillips hit his seventh homer off Nick Hagadone in the seventh.

The Indians lead the interleague series 39-38.