 was tagged for five runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings.Barnhart hit his eighth homer in the second, putting Cincinnati in front and stopping the Reds' four-game homerless streak.Gennett tied it at 2 with his 18th homer off Mike Clevinger (8-7) in the fifth, but Cleveland grabbed control in the sixth. Diaz gave the Indians the lead for good when he doubled in Greg Allen.Diaz scored on Brantley's double. Cabrera added a two-run single, and Kipnis doubled in Ramirez and Brandon Guyer. Gomes tacked on an RBI double that made it 9-2.Clevinger walked six in five innings, but got his first win since July 1. He allowed five hits and struck out four.STRANGE TIMESRookie utilityman Brandon Dixon tossed a perfect ninth for the Reds in his first major league pitching appearance. Reds reliever Michael Lorenzen played right field in the ninth in his first major league defensive appearance at a position other than pitcher.Dixon became the fourth position player to pitch for Cincinnati this year.REED RETURNSThe Reds recalled left-hander Cody Reed from Triple-A Louisville and optioned right-hander Keury Mella to the minors. Reed posted a 2.70 ERA with 43 strikeouts in his last 36 2/3 innings. He made 17 starts in the minors but Reds manager Jim Riggleman said he'll begin in the bullpen.TRAINER'S ROOMIndians: Trevor Bauer could return to Cleveland on Tuesday to have his sore right ankle examined by team doctors. Bauer was struck by a line drive on Saturday but expects to make his scheduled start on Friday.Reds: OF Scott Schebler played catch but there is no set timeframe for his return from a sprained right shoulder. He was returned from a rehab assignment last week after experiencing pain while throwing.UP NEXTIndians: Corey Kluber (14-6) pitches on Tuesday. He is 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA in three starts against the Reds, including a victory on July 18.Reds: Sal Romano (7-9) has faced the Indians once, allowing three earned runs over 7 1/3 innings on July 10 at Progressive Field.)
StubHubStubHubReds host another division leader in all-Ohio battle vs. Indians 3h ago• 3 min read Nobody has been farther ahead all season than the Cleveland Indians. Nobody got farther behind faster than the Cincinnati Reds.While it has been two contrasting seasons for the two Ohio rivals, both teams realize that means nothing as they begin their second three-game interleague series of the year on Monday night at Great American Ball Park.After all, the last-place Reds seem to play better against first-place teams than they do cellar dwellers. And the first-place Indians seem to play with the same intensity and focus against last-place teams as they do first-place teams.Indians right-hander Mike Clevinger (7-7), coming off a strong start Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins, will oppose struggling Reds right-hander Homer Bailey (1-9), who hasn't won in three months.The Reds dropped a 9-2 decision to the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday after winning the first two games of the series. Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs in the finale, and yet Cincinnati is still 15-6 (.714) in six series against division-leading teams since June 21. The Reds also are 10-5 against the American League Central."To win two (from the Diamondbacks), we feel good about being competitive against them," Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said.The Reds also took two of three from the Indians on July 9-11 at Progressive Field despite losing the final game of the series 19-4.The Indians are cruising with a 12-game lead in an AL Central in which all of their division opponents are rebuilding, and they're already looking ahead to the postseason. Even if manager Terry Francona is trying to make sure they don't -- and his approach must be working, because they've won seven of nine."We live by what we do -- we try to take care of business today," Francona said. "You don't know what the future holds. You take the wins when you can get them, and play the game right. Then, when it's all said and done, you're going to be where you're supposed to be." And first place is where the Indians have been almost since Day One of the season. Just like the Reds have been in last place in the National League Central since starting 3-15 and 8-27.Melky Cabrera hit a three-run homer in the first inning and the Indians opened a 9-1 lead Sunday against the White Sox, then withstood six Chicago runs in the final two innings to win 9-7 and take two of three in the series. The White Sox had the tying run at the plate in the ninth, but Cody Allen got the final two outs for his 23rd save."We're getting out of here happy," Francona said. "It would have been a rough plane ride getting on there (if they'd lost)." The Reds don't have much chance of even getting into fourth place, yet they've been competitive against teams with much better records. They're 30-23 overall since June 10, a record bettered by only two other NL teams.The Reds would like to get Bailey straightened out before the season ends in six weeks. He started 1-7, then went on the disabled list with right knee inflammation before beginning an extended minor league rehabilitation assignment.Bailey, who has a $105 million contract, is 0-2 in three starts since returning to the rotation July 25, and Riggleman is maintaining a six-man rotation in part to keep giving Bailey starts. But Bailey's last one was a clunker, a 6-4 loss to the New York Mets last Monday in which he gave up five earned runs and 11 hits in only 3 1/3 innings.Afterward, Bailey spread the blame, saying a bad scouting report made him pitch badly."It's really tough to switch on the fly, and I didn't do a very good job of that," Bailey said. "Guys that we had (on the scouting report as) very passive were actually swinging at a lot of first pitches. I guess our game plan was a little bit wrong, but I wasn't very sharp." Bailey is 3-3 with a 5.44 ERA in eight starts against the Indians but hasn't faced them since he pitched seven shutout innings during a 4-0 Reds win on Aug. 7, 2014.Clevinger didn't get the decision in a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday despite giving up only one run and five hits in seven innings. He's 0-1 with a 7.15 ERA in two career starts against the Reds, permitting five runs and seven hits despite striking out 11 in six innings of a 7-5 loss on July 9.
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