Indians take Battle of Ohio with 4-3 win over Reds; three takeaways

CINCINNATI– The Cleveland Indians (69-51) took the Battle of Ohio from the Cincinnati Reds (52-69) in a resilient effort in Wednesday night’s 4-3 win and took a 4-2 season series victory.

Tribe starter Shane Bieber only lasted 4 1/3 innings and ended up with a no-decision. The Reds were able to get seven hits and three earned runs off of the RHP as they took a 3-0 lead after the first inning of play. Bieber left with five strikeouts and walked two batters.

Reds Starter Robert Stephenson only lasted 1 2/3 innings. The RHP struggled finding the strike zone, converting only 26 strikes out of his 56 pitches. He gave up two hits and two earned runs while walking four batters and collecting two strikeouts.

The Indians were able to cut the deficit to 3-2 after an RBI single from Greg Allen that brought Jason Kipnis home and Frankie Lindor grounded out to first to bring Allen home. The hero of the game though was Melky Cabrera as his two-run homer in the 6th inning was all the offense the Tribe needed to complete the sweep of the Reds.

Dan Otero secured the win for the Indians improving to 2-1 on the season and Brad Hand collected him 28th save of the year, fourth with the Tribe. Cody Reed of the Reds was charged with the loss and his record dropped to (0-1) on the season after giving up the home run to Cabrera in the 6th.

The Reds dropped their fourth game in a row and will start a three-game series at home Friday versus the San Francisco Giants. The Indians will take their five game winning streak home to Cleveland and start a three game series against the struggling Baltimore Orioles Friday Night at 7:10 pm.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

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