Cleveland Guardians at Cincinnati Reds

· Major League Baseball

Cleveland Guardians

43-22, 22-14 Away

Final
5 - 3

Cincinnati Reds

32-35, 17-19 Home

Josh Naylor's 17th homer, Tyler Freeman's spectacular catches lift Guardians to 5-3 win over Reds

Steven Kwan hit a two-run double for AL Central-leading Cleveland, which earned its third consecutive win. Triston McKenzie (3-3) pitched 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball, and Emmanuel Clase worked a shaky ninth for his 20th save.

The Guardians went ahead to stay with three runs in the third against Nick Martinez (2-4). Kwan hit a two-run double and scored on Naylor's single.

The Reds had jumped in front on Jeimer Candelario's RBI double in the first. But they lost out on a chance for more because of back-to-back spectacular catches by Freeman in center.

First, Freeman ran down Spencer Steer's flyball against the wall in deep center. Then he made a leaping grab to rob Jake Fraley of a homer, ending the threat.

“Any time you rob a homer, it’s sick,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. "Those were huge plays there. It could have gone a lot different if he didn’t make those plays there. He keeps getting better and better.”

Cincinnati trimmed Cleveland's lead to 3-2 when Elly De La Cruz walked, advanced on a groundout and scored on Steer's single in the sixth.

But Naylor responded Fernando Cruz in the eighth, and then drove in another run with a bases-loaded fielder's choice in the ninth.

Clase allowed a two-out RBI single by Jonathan India and Blake Dunn's helmet with a 101-mph cutter before retiring TJ Friedl on a liner to shortstop, ending the game.

Lacking a fifth starter, Cincinnati manager David Bell used seven pitchers out of his bullpen. Brent Suter tossed a scoreless first inning as the opener.

“It’s kind of the way we had the game set up," Bell said. “Everyone did their job. We came up short but pretty good effort right there by everyone out of the bullpen.”

Kwan said the Guardians' video technology staff accurately prepared the hitters for the Cincinnati pitchers they were likely to see.

“Nothing was out of the ordinary," he said. "If we don’t have those guys (on the staff), it could feel like a free-for-all.”

TRAINER'S ROOM

Guardians: Vogt said Ben Lively will make his next start after the right-hander underwent some tests because of some “tightening” he felt while pitching Saturday night in Miami.

Reds: INF Christian Encarnacion-Strand (wrist) will be re-evaluated in the next couple days. He could need season-ending surgery, Bell said.

WORTH NOTING

The Reds sent infielder Noelvi Marte to Triple-A Louisville for a 15-game rehab assignment. Marte was suspended before the season for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. One of Cincinnati's top prospects, Marte is eligible to play in the majors again June 27.

The Guardians send right-hander Tanner Bibee to the mound to face Reds lefty Nick Lodolo in the second of the two-game series on Wednesday.

How can I watch Cleveland Guardians vs. Cincinnati Reds?

TV Channel: Guardians at Reds 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Reds: 50.7%

Guardians: 49.3%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Friedl lined out to shortstop.
	9th Inning	Dunn hit by pitch, India to second.
	9th Inning	India singled to center, Fairchild scored.
	9th Inning	Fairchild to second on fielder's indifference.
	9th Inning	Espinal struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Stephenson struck out looking.

Statistics

CLE		CIN
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	1
14	Ground Balls	11
7	Strikeouts	11
5	Runs Batted In	3
1	Sacrifice Hit	0
9	Hits	6
2	Stolen Bases	2
5	Walks	3
0	Catcher Interference	0
5	Runs	3
0	Ground Into Double Play	0
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
35	At Bats	33
1	Home Runs	0
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
21	Runners Left On Base	16
0	Triples	0
1	Game Winning RBIs	0
1	Intentional Walks	0
3	Doubles	2
15	Fly Balls	11
0	Caught Stealing	0
152	Pitches	140
0	Games Started	0
2	Pinch At Bats	2
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
1	Is Qualified In Steals	1
15	Total Bases	8
41	Plate Appearances	37
162.0	Projected Home Runs	0.0
4	Extra Base Hits	2
6.0	Runs Created	2.6
.257	Batting Average	.182
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.429	Slugging Percentage	.242
.371	Secondary Average	.212
.350	On Base Percentage	.270
.779	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.513
0.9	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	1.0
6.0	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	2.6
40.0	Batter Rating	24.0
35.0	At Bats Per Home Run	0.0
1.00	Stolen Base Percentage	1.00
3.71	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.78
.171	Isolated Power	.061
0.71	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.27
.122	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.081
.114	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.030
10.0	Runs Produced	6.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.5	Patience Ratio	0.3
0.3	Balls In Play Average	0.3
86.8	MLB Rating	71.0
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0