Cleveland Indians Beat Reds Behind Davis and Lindor Homers

The Cleveland Indians beat the Cincinnati Reds for the third time in a row last night, this time in extra innings. The Indians lost an early lead but came back late to tie it and force extras, giving them a chance for the victory. The win puts the Indians three games over .500 for the first time this year at 20-17 on the year while the Reds are now 15-25.

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Indians starter Mike Clevinger looked solid as he made his big league debut. The final stat line may not show it, but he had Reds’ hitters off balance for much of the evening. Clevinger got his first big league strikeout in the first inning, against Joey Votto of all players (probably won’t be forgetting that one anytime soon). The Reds got to him in the 4th when Jay Bruce tagged him with a home run that just cleared the wall in left field. Thru five innings Clevinger was rock steady but ran into trouble in the 6th as the Reds got their first two on before Votto (who Clevinger struck out twice on the night) socked a two-run double to centerfield. After getting Phillips for the first out of the inning, Clevinger’s night was over.

Clevinger exited the game having allowed three runs on five hits and one walk while striking out five. Unfortunately, he got tagged for four runs as reliever Kyle Crockett gave up a hit to Bruce (the only batter he faced) and Zach McAllister gave up a three-run home run to Eugenio Suarez, scoring Votto and giving the Reds a 6-4 lead, which left Clevinger with a no-decision. The Reds tacked on their seventh and final run in the bottom of the 8th on Bruce’s second solo home run on the night, this time off reliever Jeff Manship.

Offensively, the Indians got it going early again with a run in the top of the 2nd off starter Brandon Finnegan. Marlon Byrd knocked in Jose Ramirez on a sacrifice fly giving the Tribe a 1-0 lead. Rajai Davis added a second run in the 3rd inning with a solo home run to left giving and then in the 3rd. They then added two more in the top of the 6th on a two-run single by Byrd to give them a 4-1 lead.

After Clevinger and bullpen lost the lead in the bottom half of the 6th, the Tribe got one back 7th on an RBI groundout by Francisco Lindor. making it 6-5 Reds. However, the big hit of the night goes to Rajai Davis who hit a two-run, game-tying home run in the 9th inning to stave off defeat and force extra innings. Just prior to Davis’s second home run of the game, Lonnie Chisenhall drew a 10-pitch walk, which allowed the tying run to come to the plate in Davis. Chisenhall had only entered the game a couple innings prior in a double-switch.

Neither team was able to score in the first two innings of extras as the bullpens exchanged zeros. Cody Allen pitched both the 10th and 11th innings for the Tribe and looked dominate. In the 12th inning, the Indians finally broke through on a huge solo home run to centerfield by Francisco Lindor to give the Tribe an 8-7 lead. Dan Otero was then able to close it out for the Tribe, recording his first save since 2014.

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The victory was the first for the Indians in extra innings this year and has secured the Tribe the Ohio Cup win yet again. The Indians will go for the series and season sweeps of the Reds tonight as Josh Tomlin takes the hill against right-hander Tim Adleman. First pitch is at 7:10 pm at Great American Ballpark. The Tribe will then head to Boston for a three-game series against the Red Sox, who hold the second-best record in the American League.

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