Cleveland Indians overpower Cincinnati Reds 2-1 to earn a series sweep: MLB Update
The National League’s Cleveland Indians romped to a 2-1 victory in the second game against the Cincinnati Reds at the Progressive Field, Ohio, on Saturday, May 21, to take a series sweep over opposition.
The Indians’ starter, Josh Tomlin threw exceptional seven innings, allowed just one run over three hit, walked one and took out three batters to take his club into 28th win of the season. Tomlin started impressively right from the start as held the opposition
to just two hits until his last inning in which he gave away the only run from the Indians.
"The atmosphere truly was amazing," Tomlin said. "It gave you an adrenaline rush."
After getting under one run deficit, the Indians did not lose their temper and took the game as normal outing. Alex Cabrera singled on the very first pitch in the bottom of the inning and then Travis Buck touched a 389-feet long two-run homer off the Reds’
starter Homer Bailey to take his team into 2-1 leading position that remained there until the end.
"Homer was dealing," Buck said. "He didn't give us many pitches to hit. He just left one a little out over the plate."
In the eighth inning, the Indians' reliever Vinnie Pestano tossed a perfect inning to put the opposition under more pressure. However, the Reds’ closer Jose Arredondo was also impressive with his fastballs as he too did not give any run in the bottom of
the eighth inning.
The Reds were hopeful they would at least manage to take the game into extra inning, but the Indian's closer Chris Perez washed out the Reds’ all hopes tossing perfect last inning to take his twelfth save of the season.
Despite losing their second straight, the Reds’ Manager, Dusty Baker, was not depressed in fact he was happy to see such strong pitches from his hurlers.
Baker said, "We got a great-pitched game and didn't have a ton of opportunities, but didn't capitalize on the few that we had. The difference was that one pitch. That's just tough, a tough way to lose," He further added. "The way they have stuck with me
means a lot. They believe in me and it helps. Just like the fans believe and we feed off it. This is a good team."
Baker said this because he has seen the perfection in Bailey, who tossed six shutout innings before allowing a homer in the seventh inning. Despite allowing this, Bailey finished his seven innings, yielding just four hits without any walk, while taking out
four batters to bear his first loss of the season. However, he still has a 3-1 record with 2.08 ERA this season.
Tags: