Indians end Reds’ winning streak

Associated Press

cleveland

Lonnie Chisenhall already had the homer, triple and single. So when he came to the plate in the eighth inning, Chisenhall had one objective — a double.

And a piece of history.

“A cycle is a big deal,” Chisenhall said. “You’ve got to go after it.”

Chisenhall lined out to right field in final at-bat but finished with three hits and three RBIs, and Casey Kotchman drove in three runs as the Cleveland Indians ended Cincinnati’s six-game winning streak with a 10-9 win over the Reds on Monday night.

Chisenhall and Kotchman hit two-run homers, and both drove in runs in the sixth inning off Sam LeCure (2-2) as Cleveland snapped a 7-7 tie.

Shin-Soo Choo led off the first with a homer for the Indians, who won for just the second time in seven games and pulled within 1-2 game of first place in the AL Central.

In the eighth, Chisenhall needed just a double to become the eighth Cleveland player to hit for the cycle and first since Travis Hafner in 2003. It has been nearly 79 years since the Indians had a player hit for the cycle at home. Hall of Famer Earl Averill did it in August 1933.

“That’s all I was thinking about,” Chisenhall said. “Everybody was like, ‘Anything that happens you’re going two,’ so if it short hops [Reds right fielder Jay] Bruce there or gets down I’ve got to go to second.”

Despite coming up short of his first cycle since “high school or summer ball,” Chisenhall called his performance “my best game in the major leagues so far.”

The ongoing feud between Indians pitcher Derek Lowe and Reds manager Dusty Baker didn’t worsen. The pair behaved less than a week after exchanging ugly comments following a game.

Joey Votto and Bruce homered for the Reds, who swept a three-game series from Ohio’s other major leaguers last week.

Joe Smith (5-1) replaced an ineffective Lowe in the sixth, and Chris Perez worked the ninth, giving up one run, before getting his 22nd straight save. Perez’s streak is the second-longest in one season in team history. Jose Mesa saved 38 in a row in 1995.

Perez let the Reds close within one run in the ninth on Bruce’s two-out RBI single, but the colorful closer struck out Ryan Ludwick looking for the final out.

Bruce and Brandon Phillips had three hits each for Cincinnati, which failed to extend its winning streak to a season-high seven games.

“We couldn’t stop them,” Baker said. “They couldn’t really stop us. They just got one more run. I told somebody early, ‘this is going to be a 10-9 game. I just hope it’s going to be us with the 10.’”

Lowe allowed seven runs and 11 hits in five innings, while Latos was charged with seven runs and eight hits over four.

The RBIs by Kotchman and Chisenhall made it 9-7 in the sixth before Bruce’s 16th homer got the Reds within a run in the seventh.

Michael Brantley’s sacrifice fly restored the Indians’ two-run lead in the bottom half.