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Cleveland
Indians catcher Carlos Santana tags Cincinnati
Reds' Derrick Robinson
(15) out at home in the seventh inning Tuesday
in Cincinnati. Robinson was trying
to score on a hit by Zack Cozart.
Photo courtesy of reds.com
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Offense delivers more than enough for Latos
reds.com
CINCINNATI -- Even with a 3-1 lead heading into the seventh inning of
Tuesday's game against the Indians, Reds manager Dusty Baker had an
uneasy feeling.
"I didn't like the way that game was going," Baker said. "It was
similar to the game we had the other night against the Cubs where we
had a lot of opportunities to score and didn't score."
Cincinnati lost that game on Sunday to Chicago, 5-4, in extra innings,
and after watching his club put the leadoff man on and runners in
scoring position in four straight innings without anything to show for
it, Baker feared Tuesday's game was headed down the same path.
In the bottom of the seventh, though, the Reds finally broke through,
scoring four runs and adding a little insurance on their way to an 8-2
win over the Indians at Great American Ball Park. Although the seventh
inning outburst and another run added in the eighth ended up being
unneeded for the win, Xavier Paul said the Reds didn't want to keep
leaving runners on base.
"The game's not over until the last out is made," Paul said. "You see
that around baseball every year, every day. You got to play a complete
game, full nine innings, and to be able to put more runs on the board
there, that really gave us that driving force."
Before Cincinnati's bats came up big in the seventh, the bullpen left
it's mark in the top half of the inning. Starting pitcher Mat Latos
pitched well most of the night, but he got himself into trouble with
two one-out walks that forced Baker to pull him after 6 1/3 innings.
With Jason Kipnis coming to the plate for the Indians, Baker turned to
left-hander Manny Parra, who made just his second appearance since
coming off the disabled list last Friday. Parra came up big, striking
out Kipnis on three pitches, before handing the ball to Sam LeCure, who
ended the inning with a strikeout of his own.
Along with being an important point in the game for the Reds, it was
vital for Parra as he works his way back into the swing of things
following his stint on the DL.
"I think it just instills confidence in you, you know?" Parra said.
"You get the call. You get to go in that situation. It's a lot of fun
to pitch in that situation, too."
The pair of strikeouts was just the beginning of the fun for the Reds.
Brandon Phillips led off the Cincinnati half of the seventh with a
single that was followed two batters later by Paul's third base hit of
the game. Devin Mesoraco then stepped to the plate and reached first on
a chopper down the third-base line. Cleveland catcher Carlos Santana
had no play at first, but threw the ball over the head of first baseman
Nick Swisher anyway, allowing Phillips to score.
Two pitches later, Jack Hannahan drove in another run before Derrick
Robinson came in as a pinch-hitter and singled to score Mesoraco. After
Shin-Soo Choo was hit by a pitch, Zack Cozart delivered his third hit
of the game to extend the Reds lead to 7-1.
Each team added a run in the eighth, but by then, the game was all but
decided.
In all, the Reds collected 18 hits -- one shy of a season high -- as
seven Reds recorded multi-hit games. Paul and Cozart led the way with
three hits a piece. Cozart has now hit safely in nine of his last 11
games, batting .340 (17-for-50) in those contests after hitting just
.186 in the previous 11.
"I feel good up there," Cozart said. "I'm attacking up there. Instead
of taking a lot of pitches, I'm going up there looking for a pitch in
the zone early, and I think that's what's turned it around for me."
For the rest of this article, click here
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