The Reds ripped the Cleveland Guardians, 7-4, with positives galore in Progressive Field.
The main thing is that the Reds have won four straight and climbed above .500 (34-33) for the first time since May 20 (26-25).
And they’ve won four straight over Guardians, clinching the season series. That means they bring the Ohio Cup back to Cincinnati, where it hasn’t been since 2014.
A lot of humor and jokes surround the importance or non-importance of the Cup.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Maybe, though, it was a deep-seated desire to grab it back, judging by what Jake Fraley said after his three-hit night that included a home run.
“Ah, man, it’s huge,” he told reporters after the game. “This is my fourth year here and we’ve never been able to do it. We were excited about it coming to the game knowing it was possible. We took care of business.”
Indeed, they did.
They did it with 16 hits and some one upmanship. All seven runs came via one-run innings in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth innings. That means the scoreboard looked like this: 011 -111-101 — 7.
And it was the return of Reds manager Tito Francona to Cleveland, his first game in Progressive Field as not the Cleveland manager. He won 512 games in Progressive Field for the Guardians in 11 years, led them to the post-season six times and was American League Manager of the Year three times.
Midway through the game, the huge videoboard in left field flashed a message, “Welcome Back, Tito.” He doffed his cap.
But after the game he told reporters, “I had a really good time here, the people were so nice to me. But I’m here now (in Cincinnati) and I love being here. I just really wanted us to win.”
Mission accomplished.
It was the Reds debut for 38-year-old left-hander Wade Miley, making his first start since Tommy John surgery.
He pitched five innings and gave up three runs and five hits over five innings. All five hits were singles and three came in the third inning when the Guardians scored three runs.
The rust showed as he walked four, but the Reds turned two double plays and Miley picked a runner off first base to quell any big damage.
“He is shaking off some rust, but he can pitch,” said Francona. “I’m telling you, he competes. There is a reason he is still pitching.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
And Francona says Miley injects something special into the team.
“He gave us what we needed and having him out there, I don’t know, it felt like he gave everybody a lift,” he said. “He’s energetic and I know he’s old (38), but he is energetic and he competes and there was a good energy in the dugout.”
Francona was in on the fun, too. Before Christian Encarnacion-Strand batted in the fifth inning, he asked Francona to kiss his bat after striking out his first two times.
Francona kissed it and CES produced a sacrifice fly that broke a 3-3 to give the Reds a 4-3 lead they never surrendered.
Asked about the bat smooch, Francona said, “You better believe it. I do whatever it takes, man. I didn’t care. He was looking for a little help and I gave it to him.”
It was a very good night for nearly everybody. TJ Friedl came into the game 1 for 13, but was on base three times with a single, a walk and a home run leading off the second inning.
Will Benson was hitting .143 since he destroyed the Guardians during the Reds three-game sweep in Great American Ball Park.
He was 7-for-12 with four homers and seven RBI, earning him Player of the Week. On Monday, he singled twice, walked once scored a run and drove in a run.
The Reds led, 2-0, but Cleveland took a 3-2 lead in the third. But the Reds tied it in the fourth on Fraley’s home run, took the lead in the fifth on CES’s sacrifice fly with the kissed bat and the Reds kept tacking on runs.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
From the second through the seventh innings, not only did they keep putting ‘1s’ on the scoreboard, they had two or more hits in each of those innings, suffered a 1-2-3 eighth, then added another run on two hits in the ninth.
“It felt good to just get out there and compete again and give the guys a chance to win,” said Miley. “When the Guardians came back (to take the 3-2 lead), our offense came right back, so I just had to go out there and shut their momentum down.”
Fraley is upbeat about what he is seeing.
“We’re cookin’ right now,” he said. “We’re doing a good job on all fronts — the starting pitching is doing real well, our bullpen has been lights out and our offense is contagious. We’re all feeding off each other.”
And now they can drink from the Ohio Cup.
NEXT GAME
Who: Cincinnati at Cleveland
When: 6:40 p.m.
TV: FanDuel Sports
Radio: 1410-AM, 700-AM
About the Author