Trbie tallies win in extras

Associated Press

Cleveland

Oscar Mercado admitted it wasn’t easy to stay calm when he came to the plate in the 10th inning.

The Indians rookie outfielder did, and the result was another clutch hit.

Mercado’s bases-loaded single with one out in the 10th gave Cleveland a 2-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds in the intrastate matchup Tuesday night.

“That was pretty incredible,” Mercado said. “I’m not going to lie. Just breathing is the biggest thing at that time in those at-bats, but it’s hard. The game’s on the line.”

Mercado lined a 1-2 pitch from Raisel Iglesias (1-6) to left field and was mobbed by his teammates after rounding first base.

Mercado was doused with water buckets as he did a postgame interview in front of the dugout.

Mike Freeman drew a one-out walk and took third on a single by Leonys Martin. Francisco Lindor was intentionally walked, setting the stage for Mercado, who glanced toward Cleveland’s star shortstop before he stepped in.

“The first thing I did was look at him,” Mercado said. “He’s one of the most selfless guys I’ve been around. He was sort of walking me through some things to do, like stay calm.”

Mercado, who was called up from Triple-A Columbus on May 14, hit a tie-breaking home run off CC Sabathia in a win over the New York Yankees on Saturday.

Brad Hand (3-2) pitched two scoreless innings and struck out the side in the 10th.

Reds manager David Bell still has confidence in Iglesias, despite his high loss total.

“He’s going to be out there in key spots, so things like that are going to happen,” Bell said. “It didn’t work out tonight, but he’s going to continue to get big opportunities in games.”

Cleveland has won five of seven on its homestand, taking two of three from Minnesota and the Yankees.

Indians starter Trevor Bauer allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings and threw 118 pitches. Reds starter Luis Castillo allowed a solo homer to Carlos Santana in the fourth and struck out six in six innings.

UP NEXT

Reds: RHP Anthony DeSclafani (2-3, 4.70 ERA) makes his third career start at Progressive Field, where he is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA over 14 career innings.

Indians: RHP Zach Plesac (1-1, 1.86 ERA) earned his first major league victory in his last start, holding the Yankees to two runs in seven innings on June 7.