Friday, May 31, 2013
Associated Press
CLEVELAND
The Indians made certain one inning decided Thursday night’s game against Cincinnati.
The Indians, held in check for three innings by Reds starter Homer Bailey, scored seven runs with two outs in the fourth and rolled to a 7-1 win over Cincinnati.
The rally featured six straight run-scoring hits and supported a strong outing by Scott Kazmir, who allowed one run in seven innings.
“That was really fun to watch,” Indians manager Terry Francona said of the big inning that gave the Indians a split of the annual Ohio Cup interleague series.
Reds manager Dusty Baker understandably had a different point of view.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a team get six straight two-out hits,” he said. “I’m not sure what the Indians figured out there, but whatever it was, it worked.”
The Reds won in Cincinnati on Monday and Tuesday before the Indians took both games when the series shifted to Cleveland. Cincinnati has lost nine in a row at Progressive Field and haven’t won in Cleveland since May 22, 2010.
Run-scoring singles by Michael Brantley and Yan Gomes, an RBI double by Ryan Raburn, a two-run double by Michael Bourn and an RBI single by Jason Kipnis chased Bailey in the fourth. Asdrubal Cabrera added a run-scoring double off Alfredo Simon.
“Brantley opened the doors for us with that two-out knock and everybody else tried to follow suit,” Raburn said. “Sometimes that doesn’t work but tonight it did.”
The Indians carried a five-game losing streak, in which they scored 14 runs, into the series. Cleveland had also dropped seven of eight, but the bats woke up when the Reds hit town. Cleveland homered twice Wednesday, including a game-clinching three-run homer by Jason Giambi, and fell one run off their biggest inning of the season Thursday.
“That was impressive,” Francona said. “We had a tough time breaking through. Bailey’s got good stuff. We kept extending the inning.”
Jay Bruce drove in Cincinnati’s only run with an RBI single in the sixth. Kazmir (3-2) recorded his longest outing in the majors in three years. The left-hander dodged a bases-loaded jam in the third when he got Joey Votto, who came into the game batting .417 in May, to bounce into an inning-ending double play.